Exiled Magic
by L.M. Keck
Summary: Exiled from the community she once knew, separated from everyone she loved, Ryann Stone has had to forge a new path through life. When a friend from her past comes with news from home, her carefully kept secrets are determined to come free. This is a story of guilt and the power of redemption.


**Prologue**

"That can't be her." Juke's voice was echoing through the drain pipe, his voice and its incredulous tone surrounding us. We were crouching at the very edge the opening, staring through the timbers of the dry brown forest, looking at a lone figure in between the trees. Even from this distance she didn't look the same, if I hadn't been tracking her the last two months, I would question if it was her as well.

"I mean she has to be at least half the size she was before, and even then she was a tiny thing." His voice came out even, but there was the slightest hint of a break somewhere in there. That startled me, mainly because Juke was always supremely confident and one of the steadiest friends I had ever known. He always had a way of making impossible situations seem manageable. It was the reason I had chosen him to come along with me, I needed his support and his optimism.

I looked back to Ryann and nodded my agreement of his comment, it did look like she had lost weight, not only fat but a good deal of muscle as well.

"It's her," I said confidently, even though I knew he could tell it was her. I could smell her blood for miles, the rare combination that comprised it was like a homing beacon. Within this range, Juke could smell it as well.

"Are you sure about this?" Juke asked glancing nervously from me to the figure by the fire. "I mean, I know she would never do anything to us, but I still can't shake it Cole, this whole idea feels wrong. I have a very bad feeling our little reunion is going to go bad. Remember when we tried to visit her in prison? That didn't go so well," Juke said as he laughed nervously.

I shuddered inside at the memory as well. If I concentrated enough, the picture of her unconscious body filled with tranquilizer darts was seared into the back of my eyelids. Hell, it still woke me up at night.

"Aren't you supposed to be half-demon?" I asked him, one eyebrow inching towards my forehead in an attempt to shake off the memory. "Your mother would be so disappointed to know you were scared of a little girl." I winked at him playfully, trying to diffuse some of the tension.

"I'm not scared, but I've heard the stories just like everyone Cole." I could tell by his tone he wasn't joking anymore, his usual light manner was replaced by something much more serious, demanding my attention. I swung my gaze back to Ryann. She was sitting in front of the fire she had just started, crouching awkwardly on her makeshift stool. The ground was wet with dew from the early spring dawn, covering everything in a sticky blanket of moisture, which was why she spent so much time dragging the monstrous piece of driftwood to sit on.

She looked small, hunched over her small fire, and I couldn't figure out why it looked so wrong. If someone told me that Ryann Stone would look small and frail, I would have laughed at them. No one who knew her before would use those words to describe her. She had a personality that was larger than life, she was like a force of nature, even when we were kids.

Ryann sat the percolator on her small fire and was beginning to clean up her encampment. Having stayed her maximum here she would be moving on at some point today. Two weeks was a blink of the eye while watching her, and I had a choice now. I could follow her to her next spot or I could end this trip and do what I came here to do.

"She looks much thinner than you described, than she should really, even for how she is living out here. Do you think she's using again?" Juke asked. I looked over to him and noticed an emotion I couldn't place. Sympathy, I thought it looked like. His face should mirror mine because I was thinking the same thing before he brought me out of my head.

"You know the deal Juke," I started grabbing his shoulder and looking right into his onyx eyes. "You know the story, you were there that night, but don't be so quick to judge what is going on with her. We have known her long enough to never underestimate her, she never did anything without a reason and I'm clinging to the hope that she knows what the hell she is doing now." I searched his face for a sign he understood and saw him scanning her form and downward cast head. She picked up her guitar and starting playing an unbearably sad song. Gods, where was the Ryann that I knew?

Juke look back to me and said softly, "Let's just do it, this is hard to watch. How have you been doing this for the last month?" He looked at me full of pity, one which I haven't seen anyone give me for a good while.

In a classic attempt to lighten the mood, Juke playfully said, "Well that decides it. You must be on something, let me see what you really have in that mug that you're not sharing with me." He tried to grab my coffee and I threatened him bodily harm. It felt nice to break the tension for a minute.

Shaking off Juke's attempts to confiscate my breakfast I took a deep breath and stood up. I locked my hands at my sides to quell the shake. It was worse than normal for me, and it had me begging the gods that Juke was searching my face and not my body. I took another breath in and smelled blood. Apparently I was digging my nails into my hands, there was no hiding now.

"Cole Banks you need to get it together, she's going to freak out if she smells your blood before she sees you," Juke commanded and it startled me out of my fear long enough to get a grip. "Is she going to run?" he asked softly.

"I have no idea what she is going to do but she's no runner, you know that." I sounded more hopeful than confident in that moment.

"Let me go in and I'll give you the sign if I run into trouble. Stay here for now. If everything goes well I won't need you at all," I told him. He looked at me and we shared a glance full of meaning, equal parts anxiety and hope.

I took one last deep breath and stepped into the morning light, making my way towards her in a slow and quiet pace. When I got closer, I released the last of the concealment spells that I had placed on myself this morning. Almost instantly she spotted me. Her eyes, full of swirling emerald power, snapped to where I was standing, going round then narrowing to the scowl I had seen on her face lately.

"Ryann," I breathed when we locked eyes. "It's time to come home."

**Self-Control**

I looked around, squinting against the coming dawn, and surprising myself that I didn't seem to have much of a hangover. I must have not drank as much last night as I did normally. _Why didn't I? _Oh yeah I had to ration, well that was a surprise for me. I was not known for my self-control so that fact I was with it enough to stop so I could have some left for today was a shock.

I was going to have to stock up the next time I saw a supplier. I had the brief idea to call Malachi, but that would at best lead me into an argument with him, and at worst lead to a full on fight. The last time I saw him I was sneaking out of his bed at an ungodly hour. He hated when I didn't stay the night and he hated it even more when I left before he woke up, so I don't think he was going to be too happy to wake up and find me gone again. He would have to be my last resort, and the way my skin was itching this morning didn't bode well for me.

Chi had an awful temper, which matched my own, but he could never stay mad at me too long. We were far too alike for our own good, it was one of the reasons I was drawn to him in the first place. In our misery we found company, in my messed up life it was a comforting idea to know he would be there if I needed him. He would give in or I would and we would be back to square one, dysfunctional or not it worked for me out here.

I could always do some shopping in the next town I found myself near, though the idea itself didn't serve to help my mood. I was really enjoying not having to interact with anyone lately, any time I went out I found it exhausting. Remembering what to suppress and what to say around them was a complicated dance that took some concentration. The trick really was how to be just the right combination of short and polite at the same time. For some reason I found I could be fairly abrasive to others, but as long as I kept up some polite manners people tended to forgive my rudeness. That only worked if I kept my distance, and sometimes that wasn't possible. The trick was to get in and out quickly enough that no one asks questions I couldn't or wouldn't answer.

It was the same no matter where I went and no matter what plane I was on. Humans though were more predictable than I had imagined them to be which made this both easier and significantly more boring than I was expecting.

I looked at the fire pit and started my morning routine. I was never a routine kind of person, I saw no contentment in doing the same things at the same times like some people did. Routines lead to complacency, and I had thought complacency to be something to avoid at all costs. That was back when I had control over my life, when I had the luxury of choices.

Now I saw that routines were nice, routines kept me sane. Routines were the one thing I could control about my life and the one thing I could count on, no matter my location. I could be anywhere but what I did there was always the same. Somewhere inside I knew that routines were killing the spirit I once had. Even if that spirit led me down a path that ended with me exiled here.

Now, as I stared at the life that had kicked me in the teeth, I see the flashbacks of what happened reflected in the objects around me. These reminders of what my life had become were like a cold blanket, blocking my view of what I once wanted of what I once spent time dreaming of. It made me too cold, too robotic at times, I was just a shell of who I once was now.

It was too bad that cold and robotic were emotions I learned I needed out here to survive. It got me through my mornings just like the drinks and the drugs got me through the nights.

This morning though would be a small departure from my normal. I had to move on from this place, pack up and move out to find somewhere else to pitch my tent. Two weeks went by quickly this time, too often they seemed to crawl by.

Now all I had to do was think about where I was going from here, and I was currently thinking about heading north. I spent almost a half of this year in the warmer western states and it was getting old. I once thought the idea of constant warm weather would be ideal, but the lack of variety was getting to me.

I had contact with an exile community in Washington State I was thinking about visiting, if they were still there. The commune was mostly shape shifters and for the most part I got along with that set of magics the best. If I could swing a trip around the coastline, and I could withstand that much rain, it would tide me over for the rest of spring and summer.

I looked around, taking a mental inventory of all the steps I needed to take to get everything going. I couldn't suppress the groan, these mornings were always the worst, I dreaded them with a passion and this one felt no different. I hated packing everything up, it always reminded me of what I lost, of what they took from me. I needed to suck it up and do it already, it was way too early for a pity party anyways. Coffee, that's what I needed and then I could face all the cleaning and packing. I could make it an Irish breakfast, I deserved it.

My inner battle for sobriety was happening a bit more frequently than I intended it too. The drinking helped too much for me to consider quitting it though. Most people think that I did it to make everything numb, make me forget. It's the opposite really, because I felt nothing most of the time, I felt too closed off. The alcohol made me feel alive, it made it safe for me to remember. And that is what I did every night, I drank, smoked, or shot my way to the same scene night after night. The Spirit House. I thought if I went back there enough times, I could find myself again. I lost everything there, and I went back every night since to get even a small piece of it back. Not that I ever did.

Life, especially for me now, was a fragile balance. That balance was what made life both beautiful and terrifying, before. It had made my life exciting, never knowing what was going to happen to me or what adventure was going to come my way. Now the same fragility scared me senseless, the slightest disruption could do me in. Not that I would ever admit it.

I took a deep breath in and began dragging supplies to make a small fire and realized with the damp morning I should grab something of substance to sit on or I would have to change my clothes this morning. It was a bit pathetic really, the lengths I will go to just so I don't have to wash my clothes knows no bounds.

I started making the coffee and set about the task of packing up everything. I spied the case when I was arranging things in my tent, and grabbed my guitar to sing a few tunes I had recently written. I could chalk it up to being committed to playing and keeping my skills sharp, but I was just stalling. Funny how I dreaded something that took almost no time at all, considering I carried my existence on my back.

I had just checked on the coffee again, when I heard something that sounded like a twig snapping. I took a long breath into my nose. It smelled like blood. I did a quick check of my hands and feet, expecting to see some small scrape or cut, it was a frequent hazard of camping out every day. Finding nothing I lifted my head and sampled the air around me. Checking to make sure I couldn't visually spot anyone, I closed my eyes and took more air in again, using every last drop of magic still left working inside of me.

That was definitely blood, and it was blood I had smelled before, which should be impossible. Maybe I did drink that last of my stash last night. I told myself to get a grip and in the same instant I felt eyes on me, the feel of someone watching me wasn't a good sign. When I heard another noise, I snapped my head up and locked my eyes on the impossible. I looked down and shook my head as quick and small as I could manage without looking crazy.

_ No, that's not Cole, I must be hallucinating. _I could only assume that the peyote was still in my system from the other night. Alek wasn't messing around when he said it was good.

"Ryann," He said in his soft commanding voice, smashing all hope that I was in a bad trip. "It's time to come home."

I'm fairly sure at this point my mouth hung open, perhaps there was a nice family of flies nesting in there I was sitting like that so long. I looked around for a sign I had missed something, I didn't understand what he was saying.

Maybe after everything, things had finally driven him insane. It was the only explanation of what was coming out of his mouth._ After all this time that's his opening line? Time for me to come home? _I hadn't seen him in probably five years and he greets me with a cryptic line like that? I think a hello would have sufficed. My anger got the best of me, and I looked up to him and snapped.

"Hello Cole, so nice to see you. Yes I am doing well, thanks for asking. Welcome to my...home," I said gesturing towards the surroundings with some over the top dramatics. When he still didn't say anything I continued on, admittedly letting the anger get the best of me.

"It's time to come home," I imitated in his baritone voice. "Am I supposed to know what you mean Cole?" I said it with as much derision as I could manage, considering my heart was about to pound through my chest at any moment I was amazed I could form a coherent sentence.

He flinched at my tone, and it left me wondering how long I could keep up talking to him like this. Should I go for the kill and run him off as quickly as I could? I was having a hard time speaking to him this way, when the little girl in me wanted to run into his arms and tell him how much I missed him. It was a sad thought that I couldn't pull her up in mind enough to speak civilly to him.

"Ryann, no one has seen you in five years and I tracked you down in the middle of nowhere to talk. Don't you want to hear what I have to say?" He asked me. He looked nervous and his hands were shaking, but as was his usual, his eyes never left mine.

"Nope." I lied to his face. I was dying to know but there was no way in hell I would say that out loud. I couldn't start getting my hopes up he was here with good news, I knew better. It was never good news for me.

Cole sighed heavily, looking away from me and closing his eyes in what looked like frustration. I was hard not to notice he looked good, healthy even, the laugh lines around his eyes a bit more pronounced. Considering how long it had been since I had seen him, he hardly looked like he had aged at all. I wondered if I looked into mirror now what I would see. Would I look so much more touched by time because I haven't been home in so long, because of the magic I could no longer tap into? I was thirty seven already, but I looked about twenty five, like most of the immortals. I was crossing my fingers the residual magic in me kept the years at bay.

"You look the same since I ran into you in Boston. Was that really five years ago?" I asked, scratching the back of my neck a few times. I managed to speak to him with much less hardness to my tone. He looked back to me, a self-deprecating smile on his face.

He had the same look in his eyes that he had when we were growing up. Mischievous, strong, trustworthy, loving, and most importantly steady as a rock. He was once one of my closest friends, and he was looking right through me. No brakes, no walls, no mask, just Cole. Shit, I could feel my control slipping each moment I spent looking at him.

"I came here to talk with you about some things Ry. I know even if you don't want to admit it, you do want to know why I am here." He gestured towards the log I had dragged over this morning, like it was some gods damn business meeting.

"Cole, I have to get packed up and move on before my time is up. A visit from the Elite is not what I had in mind for a good time today." I tried to look bored but I'm sure I came off sounding a bit desperate. _Real smooth Ryann._

"I've come to bring you back home Ry." He looked right at me and blurted out to me, the words kind of ran together quickly and it took me a moment to realize what he was saying.

The inticing implications of what he was saying, plus the hopeful smile he was wearing was making my head spin. Maybe if I can manage not to look at him things would be easier. I continued talking to him while looking into the fire.

"I can't go home and you know it. And if I was free to choose, home would be last on my list Cole. So just say whatever it is you need to and leave, please." That last part I said at almost a whisper. I knew he could hear me, and how close I was to losing it.

"Kyle's dead," he blurted out.

**Home**

He had tears swimming in his eyes as he said it to me, I could tell they were tears of happiness and hope. Whatever sharp comment I had died in my throat, I don't even think I saw him cry that night and the sight of his eyes welling up freaked me out.

"Kyle's dead Ryann. You need to come home, to figure out what this might mean, for us and for you." That last part he said with the same whispered desperation I had used before, the sound of it almost broke me.

The only thing that could have happened to get him here, talking this nonsense, was if Kyle told them what had happened.She must have felt really bad about what she did to me to ruin her perfect image and admit everything.

"Us?" I asked him, referring to his earlier admission, steering the direction into a territory I could handle.

"Yes, Ryann, all of us need you home. Do you know what this could mean?" he said looking exasperated.

"Wow Cole, you all want me to come back? Funny how you are the only one here to tell me this wonderful news. If everyone is so keen to have me back, why are you the only one here willing to come and get me?" I asked, feeling like he was sugarcoating some of the finer points of all this.

When it came down to it, and a point I would never admit, I was disappointed it wasn't someone else coming to get me. We both knew who I was referring to, and I was praying he wouldn't make me elaborate. That was one skeleton I preferred to keep buried, there wasn't enough alcohol in the world to make it safe to bring him up.

"Yeah Ryann, everyone." When I raised my eyebrow, a clear challenge, he continued. "Everyone agreed with this. In fact Dominic was the one who suggested..." He dropped off, either revealing too much or he was unsure how I would react to bringing him up.

I was impressed, I don't even think I managed to flinch when Cole said his name. My insides could churn all they want, my heart could ignite in my chest and burn me from the inside out, but my stone facade would be firmly in place. I couldn't even give Cole that part of me, I didn't know where it was anymore. When things got uncomfortable for me, I got angry, and now was no different.

"While the fact that everyone wants me back makes my heart smile with rainbow tears of joy, I don't see what you could possibly want from me. This doesn't really change anything." I tried to sound firm and confident, but I could barely hear my own words. My heart was pounding so fiercely in my chest it felt like it was going to sprout wings and fly away. We both knew how much things could change, and the possibilities left me a little weak in the knees. The possibilities this was all just a cruel tease was something I wasn't sure I would ever recover from.

"She didn't pass away in her sleep, she was murdered Ryann, and brutally too. Kyle was bled dry and left on the vampire council lawn come dusk, displayed for everyone to see. Gods, the scheduled meeting had just been released. Trust me when I say it was not pretty, even with everything you went through with her, you would have not wanted to see her like that." I had to fight back the smile that was rising on my face. The truth was scary, I didn't care about thinking of her like that, but I didn't need to rub it in his face by telling him.

"I'll repeat, this still changes nothing Cole. Even if she made some confession, even if she recounted everything she said at my trial, it was still on me. That whole night was my fault, and no amount of confessions from anyone else can lighten that burden." I could feel my hands shaking, I didn't want to go back there now, but he never seemed to understand how things felt from my end.

"This changes everything Ryann." His eye roll suggested he was getting tired of our discussion. It What he didn't get then, or now, was that it just isn't that easy. He plowed on, regardless of the look on my face. "She told them the truth for god's sakes. She told them what she did to you that night." I closed my eyes, staring into the fire some more, hardly believing what was unfolding before me. Hearing him say that out loud was far more powerful than admitting it was happening in my head.

_'She told them it was her fault. That you had no control over what you did.' _He said it into my mind, it was a strange feeling, like a tickling echo of sound reaching the inside of my ears on outward. I hadn't heard his voice there for a long time, it filled me with a surreal happiness. Even after all this time it was clear as a bell, yet gentle as a breeze. Cole was one hell of a warlock, and he seemed to have gained power, as well as strength, in our time apart.

"When Kyle died, she had a directive in her will that letters would be delivered to certain persons. Most in our group, at least the ones that were there that night, received one. The tribunal had one delivered to them as well, though I have no clue what that one said. I haven't been able to determine what that one contained, but you can read mine if you like. I think there might be more questions than answers now, to tell you the truth." He said looking to me hopefully, and I laughed at him. Like I could formulate words at this point? I felt like a freight train was coming my way, and I was stuck to the track, doomed to watch it come at me no matter how much I wanted to get away.

_'I told you all what I knew, and in the end this is where they sent me. This is where they think I belong. This is where I think I belong, Cole.' _I told him, reaching into his own mind unsteadily. I hadn't projected thoughts to anyone in a while, but a wince in his face told me I hit my mark. He looked about ready to argue so I cut in.

"It doesn't change the fact that it was my mission, you all were mine to protect and I failed. You can't change that, even if I could push some small amount guilt in Kyle's direction, I would still drown in it. I can't put you back together Cole, you're a perfect example of that night, it doesn't change what I did to you!" I could see him out of the corner of my eye shaking his head, and I screamed something fierce and animalistic in response. I was going to go insane trying to get him to understand what it felt like for me. When I chanced a glance back to him, he looked apologetic, nervous even at the direction this visit was going.

The trouble with staying mad at Cole, was that I knew he meant well. He really was trying to help me, because out of everyone, I knew he always believed me and what I said had really happened that night. Well, as much as he could, considering the evidence to the contrary. But Cole always did have a thing for saving people. He was our glue, the one person that kept everyone together, through the good and the bad he was there to smooth things over. Even if it didn't make sense to anyone but him, he tried regardless. It was who he was on the basest of all his levels. What he always failed to understand, was that in this situation, I didn't want to be saved. I simply didn't deserve it. I must have betrayed something in my face because the next thing I know he closed the distance and crushed me to him, holding me tightly and speaking in my ear.

"You are not to blame for everything Ryann, it may have been your mission but it wasn't all your fault. This just proves how much was out of your control. Come home with me and we can all figure it out together. Come home, come back." I pushed him back, finding the emotion and the closeness, an intensity that I couldn't handle.

"Come home with me Ryann, we can fix this." He looked at me, wild eyes dancing in the firelight. I could feel him trying to hang on, but the absurdity of what he just said triggered my anger.

I laughed right in his face, unable to contain how ridiculous it seemed that anyone, let alone Cole, could fix me. It was humorless and psychotic sound, and from the look on his face, it scared him as much as it scared me. He made a move to speak but I didn't let him get far.

I flung my arms out to the side and proclaimed with sarcastic enthusiasm, "We should throw a party then Cole. Take me home right now and I can rejoice with all my old friends, you know the ones that I maimed and almost killed. You can tell them it's okay because it's not Ryann's fault, Kyle's the one to blame now. I'll face them all again, and look into the eyes of people whose lives I destroyed. I feel so much better now Cole. Maybe I can have my old life back, just like it was before. Dominic and I can be together, which should be easy, the council can give me back my powers, and I can mourn my sister properly. By drinking myself into oblivion, then taking a piss on her grave." He looked like I visibly struck him, as visceral a reaction as a real punch. It was the only thing that I had said thus far that I wished I could take back, I would never have talked to Cole like this before. It didn't make me feel very good, the anger and anxiety were still there, waging a war for dominance inside my chest.

"I expected more from you." He told me, looking disappointed. It left more than a bitter taste in my mouth.

"Yeah well after all this time we can't all be the same Cole. Some of us are altered forever by the past, and with everything that happened, there is no turning back for me. There is no going back for me, and trust me, I've tried. It's my fault, so let me pay my penance." I realized my mistake the second I said it. Explaining it in that way to him was pointless, he was a walking example of my inability to do things differently. Thankfully, he shook off my comment and unfortunately he continued with his appeal for me to return with him.

"The tribunal wants to talk with you Ryann. They would like to discuss what this news might mean for your sentence." He continued, striking another blow to my fragile mind. I couldn't believe it, no matter how much I wanted to, it simply wasn't possible. The council, especially the tribunal, never revisited their verdicts, not once in the history of the new government had they commuted or reduced a sentence. "I don't know any detail other than the fact that they are authorizing your return from exile for the hearing," Cole said in a gentle tone, and I almost dropped to my knees right there when I realized this was really happening.

I could feel the tears welling up despite my iron control over them. The prospect of facing another fifteen years of this life was enough to have me contemplate ending it, or going rogue. But now, with all the opportunities that I was facing, I had to consider if this was really what I wanted. If going home was the best thing for me. Cole continued oblivious to my internal dilemma.

"I have been instructed to tell you that the other issues, such as your holding chip, are pending the hearing to clear up any questions they have in face of all the new evidence. I don't know what they will be offering, but you should at least hear them out. Maybe they will want to give you back everything, and maybe they will only do so much, but you owe it to yourself to get what you can back. Even if you choose to do what you are doing now and go back to this life." I gave him a look that conveyed my extreme displeasure at being emotionally manipulated with the temptation of getting my beast back. Of getting even a small piece of my magic back. I had a feeling that was an impossibility no matter what the tribunal did with me, yet it was also a temptation that was too big to ignore.

"They wouldn't want to risk it Cole," I told him, fighting back a euphoric thought of feeling my magic flowing freely in my veins. I closed my eyes and the same scene that played out over and over every night began behind my lids.

_Everywhere I saw red, like a thin flowing curtain that obscured everything. I couldn't focus on a single face in the dark store. Every person I saw was a threat, every touch and sound was a warning to my beast. I could feel the magic rising, calling to me like a siren song, attack…attack…attack…. _

I jerked back when he brought me out of my terror with his voice. "At least hear them out and then you can go back to running away from everything if that's what you want." He told me, sticking out his chin and challenging me to contradict him, like a dare.

"I wasn't running Cole. I spent two years in that labor camp they call a prison and the last five years in this shell of a life. I had no choice, and you know it you gods damn bastard!" I was instantly angry, as much for what he said at how quickly he forced a reaction from me.

He looked right at me as I was about to say something I was sure I would regret, and said, "You may not think you owe it to yourself, and that's fine. I know you blame yourself for what happened, I know you want to keep licking your wounds and do what you think is best for us, but don't you think you owe it to me to try? Don't you think you owe it everyone that was there that night?" I almost fell back, I could feel the backs of my legs go slack. I would not be brought to my knees by the past, not today. I suddenly found the leaves at my feet immensely interesting, trying to pull it together long enough to continue the conversation.

"Look at me Ryann," Cole demanded when I dropped my head. I obliged him and knew in that moment I made a mistake, I couldn't look at him and not see my past, every ugly decision, every questionable action, every regret I carried with me like a lead albatross hanging from my neck. In an unfair contrast, all of the bad was sitting in my head next to all the good memories I struggled to remember.

I couldn't deny him a damn thing, because in the same face I saw every happy memory my mind could conjure, almost every good thing that ever happened to me had Cole in the background. He was a walking dichotomy of everything good and true and horrible that had ever taken place. I had to drop my eyes from his, it was too much, and he was simply too much for me to process on top of it all.

"You owe it to those who have no chance of getting things back, those of us who had things taken from us that can never be returned, you have a chance to do that. Don't you get that? Goddammit Ryann, look at me!" He was yelling now, forcing me back to the present, to pay attention to him. "You owe it to me." He informed me simply, a nicely wrapped solution to all my problems. I couldn't imagine going back home, no matter who I was doing it for, but perhaps he was the one person for whom I would try.

"I know. I know, if I owe it to anyone it's you Cole." I said, hearing the defeated tone in my voice. I felt torn, both wanting to get back and wanting to be anywhere else. When it came down to it, I wanted to keep them out of my life, out of the destruction I seemed to leave behind me, for their sakes if not for my own.

I looked at him and saw his chest ease, the beginnings of an easy breath letting out of his lungs. I knew now that I was fucked, there was no way I could send him home without me after seeing him like that. He was right I did owe him, perhaps more than anyone on this planet.

"Anyone else but you Cole, anyone else and I could say no. I guess that's why it was you they sent here huh," I laughed slightly, giving him a small smile. When I looked into his eyes, I had to look away. I couldn't stare a second longer and keep it together, not when I needed every last shred of energy I could muster for the journey home.

I took a deep breath and looked over to where Cole had collapsed onto the log. He looked relieved, if not still a bit nervous, and it was my guess that he really didn't know how this was going to go. I think he was most nervous about finding out who he was going to see. I knew he had heard the stories of what I was doing out here, of what I had been up to. I had heard some stories myself, before they realized who they were talking to. I would love to say most of them were lies but I couldn't, most of them were true, or worse.

"You look like shit," I said to him finally. A small smirk touched the side of my mouth, a feeling of familiar teasing was like stretching an old muscle for us.

"I've been tracking you for a while. It's hard trying to keep a tail on you Ryann, it always was," he said with a sigh but fighting his own grin in return.

I was restless by nature. I hated being in one place for too long. This was a case of be careful what you wish for.

"Well relax now Banksy," I said using his nickname. I needed to relieve some of the pressure so I was trying to lighten my voice and attempt a small smile. Hearing a noise I tilted my head towards the drain. I took a breath in, and smiled despite myself. Of course he would bring him. Cole noted what I was doing and smiled at me.

"You can tell Juke he's been had. You'll enjoy it more than I would," Cole said to me.

"You can come out of the storm drain, Juke, I can hear your creepy mouth breathing from all the way over here!"

"Apparently you can scratch ninja off of your potential career list." I joked at him as he approached Ryann and me. He looked at Ryann and a hesitant smile replaced his features.

Looking at her now, I wondered if I had done the right thing in coming here. Cold, determined eyes glanced over her shoulder back at me. Her auburn hair, although looking tangled and strangely twisted, was flying out dramatically from her head and shone in the sun. Her green iris were fluctuating levels of deep green, looking like swirling cyclones of contained power. I was looking at her and trying to find the girl I once knew. If she was in there somewhere I couldn't see her yet. I'd wait her out though, eventually she would show herself.

"Hey Ryann." Juke said tentatively next to me.

"Hey Juke, you look...taller." She finally murmured to him, pulling him in for a long hug. I'm surprised she could smell him from where she was sitting especially being so close to the fire. It made me curious how much of her residual power was left over from the holding chip. That conversation would probably never happen though, I would have to wait her out to bring it up. Even then I doubted we would discuss it, when things got too painful or difficult she shut everyone out.

"You look good Ryann," Juke said. "I must say I almost didn't recognize you though." She arched an eyebrow at him in silent question.

"Is that a good thing or are you trying to say something?" she asked him with a bit of a bite, but her smirk said it was more playful than angry.

"I...ah...well you do look a bit underfed there. I remember you having these nice curves and those full..." He began, as I kicked his foot before he made things worse. "Oww!" He said hopping on his good foot and making a swipe at me.

"I have this fucking chip in me, and I've been in exile for the last five years Juke, what did you expect me to look like?" She asked straightening her spine. After spending a couple of seconds scanning the ground at her feet she turned to me.

_'What is the date today?' _She asked tentatively back to me. Did she really not know?

_'April 27th,' _I spoke to her back. I could see her mulling over an idea in her mind but decided not to push it. She had enough on her plate as it was. If I didn't know better I would say she was hiding something, but with Ryann she was always hiding something so it didn't surprise me in the least.

"Why didn't the tribunal sent out scouts to inform me they wished to talk to me? No one thought to tell me of my sister's murder before now?" She finally said out loud after a minute or two of contemplative silence. I tried not to shrink at her line of questioning, this was the point where this talk wasn't going to go well.

"They did." I told her wishing she could draw the conclusion out so that I wouldn't have to speak this out loud.

"When? I never noticed anyone and no one has approached me," she said looked genuinely confused.

"They were having a hard time finding an open operative to take it. So, they sent me," I said softly speaking towards the ground. "I approached some contacts within the Elite when I found out the news they were ordering your return, and I petitioned to be the one to try and bring you in. They obviously hadn't found anyone yet so they let me step up." I looked at her again and found no way around her defenses, but something in the air promised understanding. Perhaps she was just glad I came and not some Elite bastard holding a grudge.

Juke chose this moment to chime in, "Cole even petitioned to have me come along for company ... you know in case you went psycho on us and tried to rip our throats through our asses." He said through a nervous cackle, stepping from foot to foot next to me.

Before he could finish the sentence Ryann pulled a knife out of nowhere and had Juke pinned to the tree at his back. I hardly saw her telegraph the move.

She rested it on his throat and said with crystal clarity, "And what made you two think you could come out here and disarm me? They sent you two to deliver news this serious, with the expectation that you could physically restrain me if I got out of control? I may not have my magic, but I learned in prison and the years since, that magic can only take you so far. The rest, well let's just say I have become very proficient in making up for it. You remember my kill count before I came out here right boys? Let's just say it hasn't stayed stagnant." I could feel my mouth drop open, my scrambled mind was having a hard time keeping up with what she was saying.

"Did you know I ran around with Swift's gang for two years once I got out? How do you think I survived that? I can't regenerate or heal myself anymore, so it's safe to say that my learning curve was a bit steep. It's simple though, fight or die, bleed them before they bleed you. So think about that before you joke about what I can do. No one can control me, no one can stop me, and if the Tribunal wants to pull any shit like that on me when we talk, I _will_ rip out their throats. I have proved that I can survive without my magic, so they can try their best and if I get caught they can just take it away again. I'll live, they won't." She was putting her wall up, scaring us wasn't going to work but it wasn't pretty to watch either.

She let a very pale looking Juke go with a shove and then spoke to him again with an equally disturbing grin on her face, "But if that happens, I wouldn't try to do it through their asses J. That's just complexly impractical." She ruffled the top of his hair then turned and walked away. Oh boy.

Irish Breakfast

The rest of the day consisted of the boys helping me finish cleaning up and packing, while making plans to return to the city. Stopping half way through, looking around to the two of them magically whipping everything around, I felt like I was in an acid trip. One in which everything I had been secretly wishing to happen, was unfolding before my eyes.

I had to ask myself for the hundredth time if this was what I really wanted. I had been alone for so long, and while I had bad days, there was security in only being accountable to myself. There were no great expectations or disappointments, entering the world again seemed like a hell of a lot of work. _Oh no, I have to somehow get back there and grab what is left of my supplies before the boys pack up the bag._ If Cole finds it, he's going to have a shit hemorrhage.

"I'm going down by the stream to wash up, I'll be right back," I told them, while slipping my lighter pack from the pile discreetly over my shoulder.

"Sure thing Ry," Cole said over his shoulder at me with a furrowed brow. I could tell he thought something was up but he didn't know what. We had known each other for so long, it was hard to keep anything from him.

My plan was to just slip the rest of the liquor in my coffee, and finish off the last of the stuff I got off Malachi when I got a free moment.Hopefully I could still walk and talk after that.

"You okay Ryann?" Juke said, startling me out of my thinking on the trail down to the stream. He was coming up as I was going down.

"Yeah, I...uh was just thinking about returning to the city. You know the logistics of everything." It was a plausible excuse. I had no clue where I was going to stay, where I was allowed to stay. I hoped my bank account was still open. I shrugged at him, hoping that he would continue on and leave me alone.

"I'm sure you're anxious to see everyone. That is going to be awkward...I mean great...you know what I mean. How long has it been since you've seen everyone?" He sounded unsure, scratching the back of his buzzed head. Even though he was acting weird, it sounded like he really wanted to know how I was feeling. Juke hadn't changed much either, he was good to the core.

"The last person I saw was Cole, and that was five years ago in Boston right after I was released." I lied a little but I couldn't risk everything with Luca by blabbing about him now. He looked at me with sad eyes, and I hated sad eyes.

"Juke, I think that if you looked up awkward in the dictionary you would find an exact description of what it's going to be like to come home for me. There will also be an adjoining picture in the uncomfortable silence, I'm sorry we didn't believe you, and please don't kill us while we sleep sections." I was thinking in that moment that it was going to be worse than all those combined. I had more skeletons in my closet than clothes.

"Well, Cole and I were going to tell you later but I think it would be a relief for you to know that you are going to stay in London's old place, so you don't have to worry about finding a hotel. She just had a renter move out recently so they are keeping it for you to use as long as you need it. It's right around the corner from me too actually." He looked like he was giving me a gift.

"What do you mean they?" I asked, my voice coming out a bit squeakier that I had intended. London was too beautiful not to be mated by now, she was too good of a person no less as a witch to have stayed single. I was trying to quell the rage in me that bubbled up. I was starting to realize that I had missed so much, that they had taken so much more than just my freedom from me.

"Cole didn't say anything? Shit." He cracked his knuckles and looked around.

"No one is going to come out and save you Juke, just get on with it," I told him impatiently.

"Well Cole and London are mated now. They have been for like three years, I think it's been three years. You'll have to ask him, that I have always been bad with dates." He looked at me expectantly. It appeared he was bracing for a hit. I wasn't going to kill the messenger, even though it would make me feel a bit better to dish out some of this pain.

"Well good for them," I said with a steady voice. I really did mean it. They were two of my closest friends, and they deserved each other. If I could make London a perfect mate, it would come out looking a hell of a lot like Cole. They deserved every happiness, especially after what I put them through.

"Can you do me a favor?" Juke asked grabbing my hand for me to come closer. "Pretend to be surprised, or happy, or whatever when Cole tells you." He was pleading with me now, and I was just waiting for the puppy dog eyes. How anyone denies him

things when he looks like that is beyond me.He reached out and touched the side of my face, wrapping his hand to the back of my head. He was running his thumb over the hinge at my jaw, searching the features of my face. I reached over a traced the claw marks that covered one side of his throat from his jaw down to his shoulder. I closed my eyes and leaned in, touching my forehead with his own. I took a deep breath in, smelling his scent, and I realized I missed him. It went against every wall I put up for myself to let him this close, but at the moment I couldn't remember why. I was taking this moment. We stayed like that for a couple of seconds.

"Sure." I said finally releasing a breath. He kissed my forehead and took a deep breath in to get my scent. He pulled away to look at me.

"You stink," he finally said laughing.

"You try living out here and I want to know how you would smell," I clipped out. Maybe if I stop talking he will walk away. I shot him my best hard stare, the one that lacked any emotion and conveyed my extreme need for him to move on, or else.

"I'll um, just let you get yourself cleaned up then and I'll see you at the top." He started to climb the small hill where I had just come down.

"Oh and Ryann?" He looked down and said, "Wash that hair will you? It looks like birds are nesting in that thing." He winked at me and left.

I had some time to ponder the reality that my two best friends were finally mated, I always thought it would happen but after everything he had been through I didn't know how things were going to turn out. Sometimes a person's true colors weren't always so bright when the shadows hit the wall, not that I would have ever thought that London would have left Cole. I could still see her face as she sat vigil in his hospital room after the attack, it was one of the main reasons I allowed them to drag me out in to exile. I never wanted to be the cause of that face, on any person, ever again.

No, London and Cole were always in love with each other. It was evident to all of us, even if it took them a decade to tell each other that. Perhaps it's one of the reasons that they have the kind of love that will endure through tests, and through time. The thought of Dominic popped into my head, his proud and strong face that refused to break even when they took me away, even when they chipped my arm, even in the hospital the morning after I lost everything. He wanted to be strong, I knew him well enough to understand that, but in that strong silence he shut me out. He dealt with things in his own way, we just never had the time or the ability to work it out together, and in the end it led to us going two different paths. I had to face the very real possibility he had our mating dissolved. How could their relationship survive, while ours crumbled around our feet, burying us in the rubble of something that once looked like love?

I forced my mind to imagine a reunion with Dominic, I had a feeling it was going to be complicated, complicated, painful, and joyous all at once. Gods, I didn't know how I would handle it, or not handle it. My mind raced through possibility after possibility, and in the end I didn't know if we would ever come out of the other end in one piece.

Now a reunion with London I was looking somewhat forward to, it would be just as filled with dangers as Dominic, but it would be far less complicated. At the thought of London and Cole, my mind slammed on the possibility that they could have kids by now. I hadn't even thought to ask Juke about that, and I needed to work on my controlling my face if I had to deal with it. I didn't want them to feel bad about telling me such happy news.

London was the sister I wished I had, she was the best witch I had ever encountered and was an even better person on top of it all. I contemplated for a minute, if it was ever possible to go back to the relationships I had with other people. How do you go back and move on at the same time?

My quiet panic was starting to escalate as I realized all the possibilities I faced once I got home. There were around a million questions circling around in my head, all the people to face, the council to meet with, the tribunal hearing. The paranoia over not knowing what was going to happen was suffocating me, I had a simple existence out here, and in one visit I was about to turn my fragile world upside down, with no guarantee that I would come out unscathed. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears and it was making my eyes well up with hot tears. I splashed water into my face and realized my hands were shaking.

I hadn't had a panic attack in a while, I'm not sure how long but it had to be years. That Irish breakfast was looking better and better by the second. I waded into the water, soaping my limbs up, and taking much longer than I normally did. I closed my eyes and just let my body float in the peace for a minute. I was stalling like a true coward now, if I could just stay in one place, then the world around me had to stop spinning.

I finished washing up, after taking a long time to get my anxiety under control, taking time to be careful not to fuss with my hair too much. Last year I ran into a traveling group of African mages, and I had them dread my long red hair so that my upkeep wouldn't take me an hour to get going in the morning. They were geniuses in my estimation. Kiera, one of the witches, even put some beads in here and there and the sections were soft enough I could braid it over my shoulder. It was the most feminine thing I had done with myself since I had left home, and it kept me from looking like boy out here. I thought about giving it a good washing, I couldn't give Juke the satisfaction of prettying it up. I had street cred to keep.

I laid everything out on the bank to fold up and dry, making my breakfast in the meantime. I decided to put a little extra whiskey in my coffee, I fucking deserved it.

"I thought you cleaned up?" Juke playfully asked me when I reached them back at camp. He was trying to whittle something inappropriate into the log bench he was sitting on. I smiled at him, a classic Juke move that left me for once nostalgic for our times together in the Elite. Juke did look quite different, a stark contrast to the identical looking Cole. Juke was taller and broader in the shoulders than he once was as a lankier framed adolescent. He looked like a man, gone were the soft planes of his face, and in its place were more defined cheekbones and a sturdy jaw. He caught me looking at him, and in the next moment we shared a meaningful glance. It was clear that it wasn't just the outside that had grown for him, that night had changed us all.

"We've got everything packed up and ready to head out, you ready to start back?" Cole said to me tilting his head to the side, like he was examining me. I knew what he was thinking.

"Oh, if you want to wait for me to be ready you better start digging your graves here now. Since that's not an option, I am going to sit here and play for a bit. If that doesn't calm me down, I'm going to have to take some Xanax I got off a little punk I ran into at a rave last week." I moved my pack closer to us on and picked up my guitar from its case from the ground at my feet. I said as I started tuning it, "I also have just about as much whisky in this cup as I do coffee but that's none of your business either." I wanted it to be clear I wasn't going to hide who I was now. It was this or the alternative and losing control around them again, surely they understood which the greater evil was.

I looked a Juke, who was eyeing my pack at my side, and said, "If I find out you are skimming from the top of any of my shit you're dead." Juke laughed, and I smiled and turned back to Cole. He looked at bit ashen but he seemed to take it in stride, if he was trailing me for a while he could consider this good behavior.

"I wasn't going to say anything you know," Cole told me tipping his chin up. We sat down to rest and I started strumming some songs I had been working on while I was out here.

"We can go after finishing off this coffee, I won't let it go to waste," I told him. "Are you going to teleport us?" I really didn't want to have to trek it back the old fashioned way, and the thought of the once easy traveling options made me jealous.

"Yeah Marcus approved the travel plans himself." Juke chimed in, so nonchalant about it. Like talking about him as normal as commenting on the weather.

Well, at least my father knew I was coming home.

I was playing my songs, singing some parts out in my head I needed to work on, and scribbling in the old leather journal I carried with me. What I really needed to do was talk to Cole about a few things, but I needed to reign in my anxieties so I kept working until I felt better.

After a while, we were all sitting, and I had put the guitar way. We were enjoying the last of the coffee, and chatting a little. I tried to steer the conversation towards neutral subjects, so I was catching up on Juke. He was now part of the division of fight studies at the Academy back home. He specialized in the demon/angel and the shape shifter classes, which made sense since that was the nature of his own beast. Most of the instructors were paired with classes that suited their magics, and it said something about Juke's skill that they let him teach two different groups of kids.

The Academy was our version of high school and college all rolled into one. It was the final step in a magical being's studies, preparing for the future jobs within our communities that they would be placed into. Highly prestigious, our branch at home courted children from all over the country and the admissions process was brutal. Only the most talented and those with the most powerful magic attended the branch at home.

By the time our group had reached the Academy, we treated it like our own personal playground. For Juke to score a position there was a very special thing, he wasn't that far out from being a student there himself. I was surprised he wasn't with the Elite anymore, but I was proud of him for doing something he so clearly loved. I could see his whole face light up when he talked about his job.

"That is so great Juke. I bet you have all the little demons there just dying to get into your classes. What I would have done if I had an instructor that looked like you there," I said giving him a mischievous smile.

"You would get plenty of after class hour's attention, I'm sure," he said playfully back.

"Seriously though Juke, that is impressive. See anyone around there that we ran with?" I asked, curious about what it was like there now.

He tensed a minute, but despite what he was thinking, he kept forging on anyway. He knew I would beat his ass if he was keeping things from me to spare my feelings.

"Amy and Tarah are assistant combat instructors for the vampire classes. They are looking to take over for Vin when he retires, which could be in a century, that old fart would rather be staked then give up his job. He still segregates the classes, I never understood why the vamps have to be separate all the damn time. Everyone else trains together, but they act like it's beneath them to learn other styles. I will say that Amy and Tarag are pretty cool with me though, not nearly as snotty as they used to be. Gods, I hated doing missions with them, they wore the most ridiculous outfits. High heeled boots that come up to your thigh are not serious mission attire, not to mention all that leather. Who wears leather bras to go take out a rogue compound?" We all laughed but he was right. They were ridiculous, snotty, stuck up, and unfortunately some of the most lethal vamps I ever saw fight. I also managed to shoot them a couple times before Kyle got to me, needless to say there were parts of that night I didn't regret as much as others.

"I'm sure they ask about me all time," I said with a wistful tone and small smile tipping up my lips.

"You know Kyle was working in the vampire history department, well Kyle and the two of them were still really close." Cole said quietly, cutting in on Juke. "They took her murder personally, since it seems like it was possibly a newbie vampire that drained her. There is so little that makes sense about what happened, it makes it harder you know?" I didn't surprise me they were still close, the three of them were always close when they were younger.

"How much do you really know about it?" I asked, referring to how she died. I was ready for some details about what he knew.

"Not much other than her manner of death. Amy and Tarah said she was acting very strangely the last six months before she died. Kyle didn't shut down, as much as she went completely nuts. Going out all the time, and being very aggressive when she was out. Not just sexually either, though there were rumors about that as well, she was seen attacking some witches one night and from reports it was not instigated on their end. She almost drained one of them." My mouth hit the floor hearing that.

That was not like Kyle at all. She was very much like my mother was, cold, detached, but for the most part very passive. I knew it was all a lie, I had seen who she really was enough times to get a sense for who she was, but everyone saw her as soft and kind. She was everyone's favorite little vampire, so unlike her female counterparts that she drew everyone's attention.

"She even quit her job at school," Juke chimed in. That surprised the hell out of me, almost more than anything else they were telling me. She loved that job, she seemed to thrive there, even her students admired her.

"Something had to have happened. Did you know anything about it or hear anything about it?" Cole asked me cautiously, his eyes were running a speculative gaze over my face.

During my exile, it was a condition that I couldn't stay in one spot more than two weeks. The theory was if I couldn't stay too long in one spot, the options for me to go rogue would be less. It cut down on insurrections if you were never in one place long enough to organize with the other angry outcasts. But I did get to visit with traveling magics, some of them were exile like me and some were just passing though, either way I wasn't totally isolated out here in terms of information.

I even met some that lived on the outside of our standard magical communities, but still had ties or did business on the magical planes. I got more information out of them, I got more information than even I thought was going to be possible out here. Get everyone good and drunk, and the secrets came pouring out like an avalanche, coming down the mountain.

"I didn't hear much about anything important," I said, trying to carefully choose my words. "Just rumors here and there." I hated to lie to them, but it was better off this way for now. In truth, I had heard about what she was doing. Not everything, certainly not about her job, but I knew enough. This was going to get harder from here on out, keeping what I needed secret and letting some things out, but I had to stick to what I thought was right to do for now.

"Oh well that's what we figured." Cole said looking apologetic about having to deliver the news about Kyle to me. I wanted to reassure him, but I didn't, I couldn't. "Well, we can figure some more stuff out when we get back. I have some stuff lined up and hopefully they can help unravel this mess, then we can figure out what the hell is going on." He continued. _Good luck with that._

**Aurielle**

"Where are we going to drop in at?" I asked Cole, suddenly a bit nervous that my stomach would hold up for the trip.

"The rental house. I thought it would be best to get you settled, and then you can run whatever errands you need to do. Your father's council will know the second you cross the plane that are you are back, and I have been instructed to tell you that you have two weeks to establish contact with his office. He will oversee your case until the hearing, and keep your communications up to date with the Tribunal. You will then be scheduled a date and you can present yourself to the Tribunal," he said looking over to me, gauging my reaction.

"Two weeks huh, how ironic," I mumbled under my breath. "Thanks for letting me know Cole."

At least I has some time to get my feet underneath me. Now if I could manage to stay on my feet, despite everything I had to do, I might survive all this.

"One more thing before we go." He looked deep into my eyes, pinning me with his stare. "London and I live just a street over from her old place, so if you need anything, or want to stay with us instead, just let me know and we can arrange it. I have some contacts I want you to consult with, they can help us to figure out what to expect from the hearing, and how to move forward. We can either meet with them together, or you on your own, or I can meet with them and just relay it all back to you. Some of the guys you may have known before, but I'll try to find some fresh perspectives. I have some humans I have worked with in the past, and I think they might just be the trick to figuring everything out. Luca actually recommended someone, and he has been working on your case while I spent time tracking you down. Being employed by the Elite branch here has its privileges, and I will use every one of them I can to help you." He searched my face when he finished speaking.

"I'm glad you got to work for the Elite after all." I said with a genuine smile. "It always was your dream, I'm glad what I didn't end it for you."

"Yeah just not in the way anyone thought huh?" He said softly. "Administration was never my favorite, but I doubt I could get you as much help being a lowly soldier," he said in a happier tone trying to disguise his resentment. "I am serious though, if you really need something, I need you know you can come to me and London," Cole spoke to me, placing a hand on my shoulder and pulling me in for a hug.

_'You can even call me this way if you don't want to face London yet,' _he told me mentally, knowing that I was uncomfortable. I gave him a better smile than he was probably expecting, and nodded my head.

"Grab onto my hands Ry, and we'll be there in a minute." Cole held his out to me palms up waiting for me. I placed my hands, clean for my standards, but they looked soiled compared to his. I noticed the slight shake he still had when he was trying to hold them as steady as possible. My eyes locked with his, and we descended into darkness.

The teleporting wasn't unpleasant, as it just lacked the feeling of the human plane with all it's natural laws. This loss, after being on the outside for so long, gave me a sense of vertigo but my stomach held up better than I thought it was going to.

I felt a squeeze in my hand and lifted my head to find myself in the bedroom of what looked to be a very well kept tall brownstone apartment. The front window looked out onto the rainy spring day that I could hear pounding the roof, but I could hardly see any of the rain through the large tree that took up most of the viewing space in the front picture window. It was even outfitted with a window seat, cushioned and padded delicately in light blue tones. It had seemed like an eternity since I had been in a place this nice. I must have been standing there for longer than I thought, because Cole coughed lightly to get my attention.

"This is your room and most of it is self-explanatory. If you want to put your pack down I can show you the rest," Cole explained as he pulled me out of my reverie.

"Where's Juke?" I asked him when I noticed we were alone.

"He went home, something about a date," he said with a laugh. Juke had more dates than I thought was physically possible, how he hadn't spurned enough of the female population to guarantee his a life full of bachelorhood.

I placed my stuff onto the hard wood floor next to the door that led to a small yet modern bathroom. I followed Cole out of the bedroom area, and stopped when something caught my eye on the far wall that faced the bed. There was a long dresser spanning the length of the wall, rich walnut wood covered in a long mirror, upon which sat an array of empty perfume bottles and other girly odds and ends. I looked up at what had caught my attention in the first place, staring at the reflection of myself in the mirror.

I typically avoided mirrors like the plague, I camped out most of the time and I didn't need the reminder of how much my life had taken a toll on my appearance. The person staring back at me looked like me, green swirling eyes, long dark red hair, slender frame with some curves, but considering my diet they were not where I would have liked them to be. It was unavoidable that I looked like I lived outside, darker skin, hands that looked like they were used roughly on a daily basis, and something in my eyes that said I had seen my fair share of hard times. A bit of grime covered me, the kind of dirt that never really went away when you bathe in the river all the time. It was definitely me though, and I realized my chances of going unnoticed while I was here was slim.

It was hard to miss the overall hardness in my body and face. The softness of youth was gone, in both my body and my eyes. It was the cold and detached look in my eyes that had arrested me in the first place.

I looked so much like my mother in that moment that I think I might have audibly gasped when I recognized it. I looked at the person in the mirror and realized she had started to cry, the tears were falling in two steady tracks down my face. I was crying for the first time in a very long time, and I couldn't have stopped it even if I wanted to. I didn't feel ashamed for crying like some people did. I never cared too much about what other people thought, and in this moment I was more surprised that I was having this reaction to censor what I was doing for Cole's benefit.

"If you tell me what's wrong I can try and help you," Cole said from behind me. "I can't just stand here and do nothing."

He had cut open his palms again with his nails in an effort not to reach out to me. The smell of blood was overwhelming, and it sharpened my senses enough to get myself back under control. Being on this plane was magnifying what was left of me, I blinked some tears away and looked over to where he was standing again.

"Just give me a minute and I'll be out. Thanks though." I glanced at him through the mirror, while wiping some of the tears away, and saw a bit of disappointment. I don't think he understood why I was so upset, and I didn't have the energy at the moment to correct it.

_'I just need a minute and then I'll talk with you about it,' _I told him privately as he had turned from me.

'_I'll be here,' _he said, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

"Get it together Ryann." I told the mirror in the bathroom. My sanity could take the hit of talking to myself, as long as the end result got me out of here and talking like a normal, adjusted adult.

I took some deep breaths and tried some meditation techniques I had learned from some old hippies I met on the Greater Northern Trail a few years back. I thought they were nuts when they first tried teaching me, but now I am thinking they might be on to something. I would have to try and send them a post card and let them know how much I used their tips. I got myself under control and went to splash some water on my face and use the facilities.

I found Cole outside the bedroom door, leaning against the wall.

"I just looked in the mirror in gods know how long, and saw something that I wasn't expecting Cole. It had nothing to do with you and I don't want you to think I don't appreciate you giving this space for me to use for a while." I looked to him to make sure he understood me.

"You saw your mother," he told me like it wasn't a question. I'm sure he was trying to relate, but the fact that he could see her in me as well left me feeling sick.

"Do you think I look like Aurielle?" I asked him, hoping that he could tell honesty was not something I was looking for this time.

"Only in your eyes," he said shrugging, looking uncomfortable at being put on the spot, especially when it came to the topic of my patents.

My mother died suddenly when I was fifteen. She was killed by some rogues when she was traveling on vacation with her newest boyfriend. Most would think I was upset because I missed her, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. I was crying because my one vow in life was to never ever become like Aurielle.

My mother was mean, cold, and I could count on one hand the times she showed me affection. She was always scheming and manipulative, always looking for drama. She never wanted to be a hands on mother, she had told me that time and time again, her job was to deliver me and my father was supposed to be responsible for the rest. She was content being the Alpha's wife, working her social circles and showing off her wealth, but she never wanted to have children. She told me once my father had threatened to leave her if she didn't produce offspring for him, and I think she hated him ever since. I despised her with every cell in my body, even with her dead I still feel the same way.

"I didn't expect it is all, but I'm okay now, so let's just do this then I can sleep on that delicious bed you showed me in the first room." I attempted to follow this with the best smile I could muster. It really was a magnificent bed. I had tall, four posters, with stylish hanging curtains gathered at the corners. It had to be a California king size, and the thought of sleeping in it versus my tent had me chomping at the bit to get Cole gone. I was going to jump on it like a five year old, I had no shame.

He smiled back at me and I felt a little lighter as he continued on with his tour. "This is the living room, and that doorway leads to the kitchen, which leads to the dining room, and adjacent to the dining room is another bedroom. They call these railroad apartments in the other plane and I think it fits really, on room after another. You can choose either room, but the second one is small so you can use the extra closet space if you need it." As soon as he said it he looked like he really wanted to take that last comment back, since most of what I owned I carried in a pack.

"It's okay Cole, really. This apartment is perfect and I couldn't even begin to thank you for taking care of thinking about all this," I told him as I squared my shoulders and stood straight, proud that I could still count on him when I needed it

"I'm just going to indulge in a bath and a nap, and then I'll call you tomorrow and discuss where to go from here. I just want to have a quiet night to sort myself out a bit," I explained and waited to see if he wanted to say anything else. He looked like what he was going to say next was not something he wanted to be talking about, but he forged on anyhow.

"There is some meat and blood in the fridge for you. I don't know what your diet is consisting of these days, so there is human food there too," he told me quickly. He looked a bit embarrassed as he said it, a blush was creeping up his neck.

He strode towards the side door that connected to the kitchen, and looked back at me. He walked back over to me again, and took my face in his hands.

"We are a street over Ryann," he said looking me in the eyes.

"I'll be fine here Cole." I delivered this with a false confidence I was praying he wouldn't see right though. My only thought then was that I was glad he couldn't read my mind, because if he did he would never leave me alone.

"Welcome back," he whispered both thumbs grazing my cheeks. He brought my forehead to his and then dematerialized right there leaving me in the kitchen staring at the floor, swaying at the loss of his body on my own.

When the phone rang in my office, I jumped like a frightened child. Considering I had been expecting and waiting for this call all day I shouldn't have been so squirrely, but my heart was in my throat and I wasn't sure I could use my voice at all. I got no work done at all and spent the entire day staring at the phone like it would grow arms and strangle me to death.

"'Cole?" I whispered into the receiver, noticing his name of my caller ID.

"Yeah Dominic it's me," he said in a short yet tired voice. Cole waited for me to talk, but my tongue was like sandpaper and I licked my lips to try and coax them to work.

"Is she really here? Did it work, did she come back with you?" I asked him. It should have been me who went, it was the same decision I kept going back to again and again today while I paced in my office. But then again if I went, she probably wouldn't have left with me.

"Yeah she came with me, it took some convincing but she's here Dominic. This is such a fucked up mess man, you and everyone else is going to have to step up and help me out with her. She's so closed off I think it's going to take a miracle to pull her back out again. What the hell are you going to do now?" He asked the last part with a bit of protectiveness in his voice. That was bad, if he was getting riled that meant that she was in worse shape that I was hoping for.

"I have no fucking clue brother, I have no clue."

**Thor**

I saw the sun trying to peak through the heavy drapes that I had hastily thrown over the large window in the bedroom of the apartment the night before, anticipating my need to block out the light. Apparently I had missed a good portion of it, because a sliver of the sun was shining in my face right in one of my eyes. _Ouch, why does moving my eyeballs hurt so much?_ Eyes were way too small to cause so much pain.

I smelled some of the incense I lit last night and hoped that it had gone out, or someone had extinguished it before passing out. The last thing I needed was Cole or London finding out I burned down the apartment less than twelve hours after arriving. That would go well, I needed to get an aspirin and some water from the nightstand before my headache got uncontrollable.

I attempted to move my arm, and hit something decidedly firm. I kept my eyes closed for the moment and tried to move my other arm, which was also refusing to work normally. It took me a moment to figure out that not only was my other arm asleep, but it was asleep because something had it pinned to the mattress. Okay, since I wouldn't be freaking out any humans here, I kept my eyes closed and sampled the air. I easily smelled more than the two that I had in bed with me. There was one in the hallway area, I thought, and one asleep at the dining room table.I figured it was time to actually open my eyes and assess the situation, no one had attacked me so I could assume I was safe for the moment.

I looked and saw that my arm was currently being pinned down by a huge blond block of muscle, one very large and handsome part angel. His hair was an eye catcher last night, but his almost perfectly lavender eyes were what drew me to him from across the room, they locked on me and all my plans for good behavior in the bar were blown to pieces. Those purple eyes, which were the remnants of some angel ancestry, were something I could never deny myself. He was easily six and a half feet, but with leaner muscle mass than one would think of a man so tall. I usually preferred this type of muscle on a guy. You could tell he worked out but perhaps more of a runner or martial artist than a gym rat. Not that it would have made a difference, gorgeous was gorgeous, and as I convinced myself of it last night, it was my duty to womankind to step up.

_"I'm Jason," he said to me as he reached me at the bar. He just walked right up to me and introduced himself. No subterfuge, no games, no silly pickup lines. When you looked that good though, I was guessing small talk wasn't necessary._

_"Ryann," I said back to him offering him my hand. He sure was a handsome bastard when I noticed his blinding smile as he took my hand._

_"I know who you are," he said back to me. It wasn't in a accusing or hostile voice, he was just telling me upfront he knew who I was._

_"Then why are you here? Surely you can tell no one is willing to be near me tonight." I gestured towards the empty space all around me. This was a packed bar, and yet the two stools on either side of me were oddly empty._

_"I'm not scared of you, my friend Leah told me some stories she heard about you and I just had to meet you," he said as he perched his long frame on the stool to my left. As he mentioned his friend, he pointed towards a beautiful blonde on the other side of the room. I looked back to him, not knowing if he was just toying with me, trying to get a threesome out of the deal, or if he really was interested in talking to me. I took the shot of tequila I had ordered, thinking it over in my head. He looked genuinely intrigued by me, I thought he even might be flirting. As usually the tequila made the decision for me. _

_"You should be scared of me, but I think that might be part of the reason you are talking to me," I told him while giving him my best smile. It felt good to dust the cob webs off and talk to someone like this again._

_"Perhaps you are right. I'm visiting Leah for a little while, and even though she and her demon friends can be fun they are…predictable. After the fifth story she told about you I had to come over here and see what all the fuss was about." His eyes held a depth of lust that nearly knocked me off my stool, I threw back another shot for good measure._

_"Fifth story huh? Which one was that?" I asked teasingly._

_"It was the story of how you, supposedly, stole Swifts classic Aston Martin and had it painted florescent pink." I laughed loudly, it was a good story and it lit my face in a childish smile to think of it again. _

_"Ah, Swift loved that car. He was furious with me for that little stunt, of course I had the interior done too you know. I put our combined monogram on it, like those ones that married couples get and then plaster all over their things as newlyweds. You should have seen his face when he saw it in the garage, he looked like he was trying to will himself back in time and never meet me." It was when the two of us were good, though those moments never lasted long, but when they were good they were great._

_"Why the monogram?" Jason asked me, looking puzzled but still shaking off his laughter.._

_"He had asked me to marry him that morning," I said to his astonished face. Every story about me usually missing details, often the most interesting ones, and it was satisfying knowing that the gossips got this one wrong._

_When he continued to gape at me I had to say something to bring the poor guy back. No heavy tonight, not with a fifth of tequila occupying my bloodstream._

_"I know what you're thinking. Everyone thought he was just using me as one of his girls. No, he was in love with me. It served my purpose so I let him, but when he offered marriage I had to do something to get his attention." I laughed out loud at the memory again, it was beyond satisfying to relive it. I could see Jason's constricted brows as he shook his head._

"_I knew him once, and Swift doesn't do love. He's ruthless, a murderer, a supreme mobster maybe but not a lover. How did you pull that one off little bird?" He was smiling back at me, winking. I was thinking he wanted to know what spell I used, even though we both knew I couldn't do them anymore._

_"Oh Jason," I said trailing a finger over his lush bottom lip. "I'm just that good." His eyes flashed an almost brilliant white and he threw a fifty on the bar top, grabbed my hand tight, and led me to the back to meet his friends._

I shook off the memory and looked to my other side which was occupied by the other blond, Leah. She had long honey yellow hair, and one of the best female bodies I had ever had the privilege of seeing without clothing. I had her here in me bed for another reason altogether, but I could admit she was gorgeous. I knew that succubus could manipulate their forms in extraordinary ways, but this one had even me impressed. The line between endowed and unnatural was a finer line than one would think, and she had mastered it, who was I to turn that away? It was an art form like no other. I needed to stop staring and get it together, I needed to get them gone.

It was so easy kicking 'guests' out of the tent in the morning. The only times I slept in a bedroom I was usually the one slipping out come morning. Looking at the sun, I realized that it was a bit early and since I had quite a day yesterday I would go back to bed, just for a little while longer.

I had the intruder pinned to the floor and held the Glock that I has stashed under my pillow before I finally fell asleep the night before. Just a few minutes before I had heard someone coming down the hallway, and they didn't smell like any of the people I had over last night. I was out of my bed, weapon locked and drawn as I caught them just outside the bathroom door.

It was dark in the hallway, since I had closed all the drapes I could find, but I could still use some of my enhanced night vision to see competently. I had one hand holding the gun pointed towards their head and the other trying to get some of the hair out of my way so I could get my knee in a better position in case they decided to get scrappy.

"Ryann?" a small female voice said below me. It was so small and shaky that I didn't recognize it at first. _Holy fucking shit._

"London!" I screamed and jumped up from her like her skin was acid. I stumbled back in an effort to flip the switch to the overhead light, my hand taking far too long to find the plate.

I found her laying on the floor, shaking like a leaf and trying to give me a small smile. She was going for reassuring, but it didn't touch her eyes. They were wide, stormy gray, and scared. I don't think I had ever felt more like a monster, in all my life, than in that moment. She was never good at hiding what she was feeling and her face looked like she had seen a ghost. I tried not to look hungry as I watched the blood drain from her face, no need to give her a heart attack.

After staring at each other for a good minute, I decided to break our silence. I shook out some cobwebs from my brain, and crossed the hallway to give her a small hug, it was uncomfortable but it felt nice. I could feel my anxious magic receding a bit, allowing some calm to settle into my skin. I looked over to her, trying to convey in my face how much I had missed her. I felt myself slipping, my eyes were filling a bit with tears and I needed to pull it together. I gave her a small smile.

"I'm just going to use the bathroom and then I'll meet you in the kitchen. If that's okay?" I asked her. I wanted to give her a moment to collect herself without worrying about what I would say to her. This was a big moment for both of us, and I just ruined it, like everything else.

"I'll go start some coffee, that's what I was coming over to bring to you anyway," she explained holding up the can of Columbian that was my favorite. My heart was squeezed in my chest so tight I almost rubbed it. "Cole forgot to stock it and I remember that you can't really live through the morning without it. I assumed that part hadn't changed." She didn't wait for a response and began walking towards the back, leaving me staring after her retreating form. I stumbled into the bathroom to pull myself together and realized I still had my gun in my hand, safety off.

I went back to the bedroom after a quick pep talk in the bathroom mirror, and returned the Glock to the nightstand. I noticed that my 'friends' were just beginning to stir and I crossed my fingers it would go smoothly.

"Hey guys!" I said cheerily with a plastered smile on my face. Time to pour on some charm, I had fun last night and I didn't want to seem like a bitch. "I had a friend stop by to chat, so I'm going to need you all to head on out. You can grab a quick shower if you want, but if you could make it quick and discreet I would appreciate it. In fact, if you can make it out of here in fifteen minutes I can even throw in a coffee for the road," I told them as I wagged my eyebrows, like I just offered them the deal of the century. They both smirked back at me, obviously amused. Finally a little bit of luck, I would have to keep their numbers this time.

"Sure thing sugar," Leah replied while rising from the bed to stretch. She immediately began attempting to find her dress. She located it, rumpled up by the end of the bed and shook it out to put it on. Half way up her midsection she realized what was wrong.

"You ripped the top you heathen!" she yelled at Jason while holding up the cobalt wrap dress I saw her wear the night before.

"Thor!" I chided him sounding indignant at what he had done, kicking out one hip in the process and trying not to start laughing.

"Stop calling me that or I'm going to give you a nickname you aren't going to like at all." He looked at me smiling wolfishly. I couldn't remember his name at some point last night, and stared calling him Thor for the rest. I knew he really wasn't a relation, but the resemblance was so striking I decided to call him that permanently. It was even better because he hated it, and he stopped grinning at me to face his friend.

"Oh stop pretending like you didn't love it Leah. You sound mad now, but last night you didn't sound too broken up over it. In fact I think you kept screaming harder, harder!" At this she grabbed a handful of pillows and started pelting him with them, calling him some very creative names.

"I'm going to grab a quick shower and then we can get out of your hair," he said kissing my cheek and turning to walk towards the bathroom.

"Do you have a top I can borrow?" Leah asked looking much less angry now. I would imagine it would be next to impossible to stay mad at Jason. I was already looking through the laundry I did the previous afternoon for something presentable she could wear.

"You may have to take your boobs down a notch but this tank should be fine if you rip the rest of the top off your dress and use the bottom as a skirt," I told her holding up the top, looking from her chest to the smaller shirt.

She looked a bit taken aback that I knew what she was, she almost blushed but reigned it in. Most would assume she was just a regular demon, and this morning may have been just as rough on her as it was for me without coffee in her system.

"I noticed it when I bit you last night." I said casually as I changed into some clean clothes. "Blood can't lie."

She touched her neck lightly with a small smile, it was almost demure. "I'll make sure we leave soon, I had a great time last night Ryann. I haven't done this in so long it was nice to find someone that shares my philosophy about sex. Jason is only in town for the next month just to let you know, I don't know when he's going to be around here again either. We'll see you again, sometime soon?" she said. It was a question and it wasn't a question at the same time. She wasn't looking for an answer any more that I was looking to give her one, because we both knew we would do this again.

I threw one last look over my shoulder as she was changing her bust line to fit the smaller size of the shirt. The end result was nice but the process was a bit revolting. She was still touching the spot on her neck and looking for a scarf in my closet.

"Don't worry Leah," I said with a smile. "You don't have to cover up. I used your femoral last night, left thigh." I pointed towards the leg, then I winked leaving the room and pulling the door closed behind me.

**Eye of the Tiger**

London was sitting at the little dinette that was on the back wall of the long kitchen, her blond hair was the same shade of pale white she had as a child.

I noticed she had added some blue highlights to it that just skirted the edge of punk looking. It was too delicate and natural to be edgy though. It looked like someone took the colors of a clear sky and painted it into her hair. Her face was so delicate and feminine that it made her look like a light blue angel. She was twirling the spoon in her coffee and looking at the tablecloth, not acknowledging me yet.

"The man that was sleeping in the dining room left a couple minutes ago," she said pointing towards the other room. "He wanted me to tell 'Leah' that she could call him later at his office, and she can pick up her keys from him there. Are you using different names now that you are home?" she asked me, a harsh tone in her voice.

It was a bit snarky, but considering how our reunion was going I wasn't going to be begrudge her some grumpiness. I did body check her and pull a gun on her not five minutes ago.She didn't look like she was hurting, but she could have healed herself already. I didn't even feel it, I couldn't detect the change of magic in the air that she would have used to smooth herself over. I found myself profoundly sad at the thought.

She was searching my face for something, I could tell she wanted to say more but was attempting to edit herself. She always was considering others emotions before her own need to speak, and I had to admit I was never more grateful for that than now. My self-editing button was stuck permanently in the off position, and I didn't want to make this situation any worse than it already was.

"I'm going to grab a cup and then we can visit," I said unsure where I was going with the term 'visit'. I wasn't sure if she was here to talk or just drop something off. I didn't want to oblige her to stay if she didn't want to.

I began to make my cup and pulled down two travel mugs that I found in the same cupboard. I filled theirs up but left the tops off in case they wanted to put something in it. As if on cue, Leah and Jason walked into the kitchen and gave small waves and smiles to London as they approached where I was standing by the counter. They each grabbed their mugs, twisted on the tops and headed towards the door, no fuss no awkwardness.

"I'll run these through the wash after were done and Leah can leave them with Jim at the bar if you want them back," Jason said as he was crossing the threshold and onto the stoop. He bent and kissed my forehead as Leah closed in and kissed my cheek.

"Bye Ryann. See you around," Leah said and they left the kitchen and she closed the door behind her.

I turned around looking to see what kind of reaction would be on London's face. She looked like she didn't know what to say, and for once I was glad to have rendered her speechless.

"You went to D's last night I'm guessing?" She asked me after a short pause. We both knew it would happen, so I was surprised that she seemed to be surprised.

"Yeah, it took me about an hour to do my laundry and then take a decent shower. I was going out of my mind after sitting around for a few minutes after that. I never did do well with too much time on my hands." I always hated being bored, sometimes it felt like I was allergic to it. I could feel my skin getting tight and itchy just thinking about it. I was wringing my hands back and forth and tried to stop fidgeting from the scrutiny I could feel she was emitting.

"You could have come over to our place if you wanted," London said quietly. I wanted so badly to take that look of confusion and pain off of her face, but I didn't know how to explain it without hurting her further.

"I am just getting my feet under me Lon, I needed some time before seeing you," I explained needing her to understand this. "What do you want me to say? This whole thing is so fucked up and I really wanted to try to do it right. I have so much going through my head," I told her begging her to let it be.

"You sure did spend some time thinking about it last night huh, is that what the blondes were helping you with? How cliché Ry, the good and the bad all in one night," she said rolling her eyes. Her attitude towards that was surprising, she never judged me or what I did in the bedroom before. Whatever bad feeling she held it vanished just as quickly as it came, which was also typical for London.

"I'm sorry that was rude." She sighed and tried again. "I know you are going through so much and that was why I thought I would come over with a coffee peace offering. I should have called, or had Cole try to reach you before just coming over. I would have saved myself a glock to the face," she said with a wry smile. There was my London, gods I missed her.

"Where I came from, someone sneaking up on you at night isn't usually there to bring coffee. I overreacted. I didn't recognize your scent at all," I said quietly with unconcealed shame in my tone.

We sat in somewhat comfortable silence for a few minutes while finishing the coffee then London started to get up from the table. She must have had a thought, because she suddenly sat back down.

"How much did Cole fill you in on what Kyle revealed in her letters?" she asked me suddenly, changing the direction of our talk so fast I felt dizzy.

"He just basically said that she admitted to drugging me that night, he didn't know the other letters contained, but he left a copy of his own for me to go over. I think there is going to be some meeting with an investigator, he is going to take all the new information and get with me to figure it out. You know, I always thought someone was wrong with me that night but we were all at the bar so I assumed it was more self-inflicted. When I told everyone that I believed Kyle had drugged me, everyone thought I was nuts. Little Kyle Stone sabotaging her sister, it sounds impossible even now. No wonder you all didn't believe me," London flinched at that last part. I knew she really wanted to believe me but none of it made sense then. I was the one that always had control issues.

"That's not all Ryann. This makes everyone think twice about what you ran into that night. There are so many things that should not have happened. Are you prepared in the event there were more things out of your control? What are you going to do if it comes out there was something more going on? It could mean you aren't responsible for what you did," she said to me with a gleam of hope in her eyes. Gods I wanted to believe her. I wanted to believe her so badly but in the end, I knew where the blame went.

"I was the one that attacked everyone London, I was the one that shot Cole. No matter what someone else did to me that blood is on my hands, his blood is on my hands. And let me tell you, my hands are pretty gods damn bloody," I told her bluntly if not a bit dramatically. She flinched at my words, but didn't back down from me.

"I'm going to let you be for a while and when you are ready I want you to know that I'll be here. For however much, or how little you need me, I'll be here. You need to talk about Kyle and what happened that night with someone, Ryann. I won't mince words, so I am just going to say I would really like that someone to be me." She started to get up again then sat back down again, turning back quickly to me. What else could she want to say?

"I don't really want to say it but I need to." She took a deep breath and continued. "The man in your dining room in the suit was Rhett Russell. Do you remember him from school?" she asked me warily.

"Wasn't he a few years younger than us? I think I remember now wasn't he a were tiger, with the white stripes? He sure was a pretty kitty then, he was so popular with the girls even in our class. Why are you asking?" I wasn't liking the look on her face. Not one bit.

"Yeah, he was three years behind us and yes he was stunning in animal form, but the important thing is that he just secured an intern position with the shape shifter Council," she said looking at me like I was supposed to figure it out. All I could think was that I was impressed. The positions within the councils was highly competitive, and it took very big connections to even get considered for positions within the organizations. If I remember correctly, Rhett grew up on the outside, which means he must have some very good skills to land the job.

"I didn't sleep with him last night if that's what you are wondering," I informed her defensively. I was really glad I didn't too. In no way did I want to be involved with any council at all, if I could help it, not with everything up in the air. She looked bewildered that I wasn't getting it.

"Cole didn't mention anything about the shape shifter council did he?" she asked with a scowl on her face. We both knew why he had convinced her to come over here now, if Cole was scared to telling me it must not be good news.

"I am going to cut him off for quite a while for pulling this on me. Maybe I can spell him to wake up and think his dick is bleeding. I read somewhere that nothing good comes from a bleeding dick. If that doesn't work I'm going to kick him in the nuts so hard he is going to think twice about manipulating me into doing the dirty work." I just let her rant. It was easier than trying to stop her when she got riled up.

"I mean that information was one of the reasons why it was him that came to get you. We had a vote on it and everything. It was one of the conditions Dominic made when we were talking through the plan," she said continuing to babble. She turned as pale as her hair when she realized who she mentioned. The effect made her look transparent. I could tell by the look on her face that said much more than she ever intended to.

"He's not Lord Voldemort London, you can say his name," I told her quietly, trying to make her laugh.

I knew of a therapist that uses her skin walking to counsel people on traumatic issues they had with loved ones, and while I never understood it before I could see how she was in demand. Maybe I could hire her, she could take turns being Kyle and Dominic and I can kick the shit out of her. Of course that was a horrible idea, I would probably snap and kill her only to be back right where I started.

"Let's just move on to what you want to say London, you can yell at Cole all you want at home." I told her trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"Dominic and Mira are together now. They have been for about a year," she said fast, like ripping off a band-aid. I already knew it but I didn't need to tell her that, or what I did when I heard.

"It's okay. I expected it to happen really. Mira is good girl for him, they are going to make good mates." My face must have betrayed me because she decided to change the subject.

"What I'm trying to say is that it's going to get back to Dominic that you're back now. And whatever Rhett witnessed last night will probably get back to him as well, Mira is one of his friends," she trailed off the end part of the sentence.

"Are Rhett and Dominic friends? Why would it get back..." I stopped mid-sentence and let the truth rock my brain.

"No," I said shaking my head with a look of pure horror on my face that I didn't even bother to hide. I knew this would happen for him, but I never thought it would be this soon.

"Antony died last year Ryann, and they elected Dominic soon after," she said on a whisper. "Dominic is on the shape shifter council now."

Great, he probably sat right next to my father.

I looked at Ryann's face and struggled to keep my emotions in check. It was a wound so raw I don't think it would ever heal. If she still looked this way when talking about Dominic now, I'm not sure it would ever get better for her. I looked back to Ryann and noticed she had pulled it together. In the blink of an eye the pain and loss and confusion had left her face and she looked determined, if I didn't know her so well I would have missed it. Determined to do what, well, I wasn't sure but she wasn't one to sit and wallow.

"Ryann what did you do last night? Was it anything we should do damage control with now or would it be better to ignore it?" I asked her bluntly. I was hoping against hope it wasn't too bad. She looked a little affronted at the direction this was going, but her eyes looked relieved.

"I don't really remember him much from the bar so I don't think I talked to him much. He came back here with a few guys in suits that looked like they were celebrating after work. We played some poker at the table before Leah and Thor followed me back to my room." She said Thor with a sarcastic smile and I choked back a giggle, it probably wasn't his name but it really did fit him.

"I broke out a new bong, Leah had some acid, but other than that it was a pretty mild night. Unless he was awake when I fed from Leah, there was nothing I did that would raise any flags," she said sheepishly the barest hint of a blush staining her face. I tried to keep my face even, but I was wondering how in the hell she could still feed at all?

Beyond the questions I had, this was good, the feeding wouldn't go over well if anyone found out, but from the looks of Rhett this morning I didn't think he was conscious enough last night to see anything damaging. I didn't want to press her about it but she shouldn't be needing to feed at all, and now I was worried for her.

"You should be in the clear, but there is no going back now, Dominic will know about it and you should prepare for a visit Ry. He always hated the drinking and the drugs," I said, not to mention the stroke he's going to have about her bedmates.

_'__Hey Dominic, why yes I saw Ryan with a half angel and a demon succubus this morning. If you want more detail just ask Rhett he was there too.' Not going to happen, ever._

"It probably won't be any time before the hearing, the councils are up to their necks in meetings about some building acquisitions and permits. Juke says they need to expand the school grounds to accommodate the higher influx of students. They have been buying up land and buildings the last year to help out. Dominic is heading up the project. It's his first year on the council and he should be helping out on projects not heading up something that major. He just can't help himself though, you know he always had a soft spot for children," I said to her without thinking. It just came out, like it would if I was talking with anyone else.

I glanced at Ryann and it looked like someone had punched her in the stomach. I could tell she was fighting to stay above water with everything going on, and if I didn't get out of there soon I might do more harm than good. She needed some sober thinking time to sort through everything.

I looked at her one more time, and gave her a smile before heading towards the door. I was going to stop the verbal diarrhea before I made things worse. "I left my number by the phone and some other ones you might need too. Ari, the investigator they hired to look over your case, left a number you can reach him at if you want to talk before he comes here with Cole on Thursday. You might want to go over things with him before then, have him over. He's a great guy, he's just your type too, it wouldn't hurt to talk to him. Oh and try not to destroy the apartment in the next two weeks okay? The spell to remove blood from the carpet is almost as hard to do as doing it the old fashioned way," I told her with a wink and she returned it with a good smile. It was so good to see her face again, to be able to reach out and touch her again. I gave her one last wave, and then I teleported off the stoop and hoped like hell Cole was home. We needed to have a few words.

**Shopping**

I managed to spend the next day sober enough to get some of my affairs together. I called Ari, the private eye, and talked with him for a bit. He was recommended by Luca, and I tried to play it cool about my association with him. Ari had a very nice voice I noticed, it was very reassuring and confident at the same time. I'm sure he had to be, gleaming information out of people about their most private moments had to be hard.

"Cole and Juke have given me copies of their letters, and I have been going over what they say. Have you read any of them?" he asked me.

"Yeah, I read both the boys letters. It wasn't anything I didn't know already though." I didn't give him any more information. He could fill in the blanks if he was good enough.

"Good, now I just need to get you in here and give me some statements about what exactly happened that night from your perspective. I have the reports from the council, but if you would tell me about it again I might get some new information out of you," he said a tinge of hesitation in his voice. I didn't like the idea of that, I wasn't sure I could trust him yet and I needed to see him face to face to know if I could really go there with him.

"We'll talk on Thursday about that. I don't really know you and I am very…paranoid," I informed him, not wanting to offend.

"I can understand that Ryann. If you don't have any more questions for me I'll let you go and see you on Thursday," he responded back without delay. I realized that I liked him, he didn't seem rattled by anything and he actually listened to me.

"How about you come over tonight, we can talk a bit and eat some dinner," I blurted out before he hung up. I couldn't remember for the life of me why I was inviting him over, but it just came out. Gods.

"That sounds great. I need someone to pop me in though, do you want me to call Luca?" he asked. I thought about that. No, that would be a bad idea. I wanted some of this to stay quiet, and off the boys radar for a while.

"How about I meet you on your plane? I can have someone take me, is there a coffee place near you?" I asked, getting a good idea.

"Yeah a couple of blocks away, it's called Bump and Grind. I'll meet you there say eight?" he suggested and I agreed. One last item to talk about though.

"I know you and Luca know each other, and I know that the boys hired you to help me out, but where does your confidence go? If I ask you to keep some things private would you do it?" I asked Ari, waiting for his reaction.

"Of course. You are my client, Cole and Juke made that very clear when we talked. I think they knew you would want privacy. Trust is very important in my business." And the boys knew me too well not to make it a condition of his employment.

"I'll see you tonight then. Thanks Ari."

"Not a problem Mam" he replied more formally.

"Call me Mam to my face and you will get to see firsthand why grown men are scared of me Ari," I teased him. _Why am I flirting with him? _ He laughed and the phone rang with his deep baritone chuckle. It caught me off guard, but I liked it. I wanted to say something else but I just chickened out and hung up on him. I would have plenty of time to embarrass myself tonight anyways.

I had Leah drop me off in front of the cafe later that night, I was shocked at how readily she was willing to help me out. It was a nice looking store, all dark woods and brown tones on the walls, local art for sale hanging here and there. Bookshelves with decent enough books and magazines filled the walls. It was very crowded, which normally I would dread, but tonight I welcomed the feeling of being lost in a crowd. I was always the one stared at, usually the center of attention, but not here, it was nice to go unnoticed for a change.

I had on the one nice looking dress I had left. It was dark purple, strapless, and went all the way to the floor. There was a light pattern in it but the colors were so dark it was hard to tell. That and it was well worn. I threw on a dark blue sweater I found in the spare closet and slipped on my Birkenstocks.

I found Ari, even in the crowd I just knew it was him, both from London's description and the massive amount of paperwork on the small table in front of him. He had light brown skin, not African American and not white either but just enough of both to be a stunning combination. He had dark hair that was cut close to his head, not a buzz but a very clean cut, almost military looking in his appearance. He looked up at me as I approached, and I noticed he had clear light blue eyes, framed in dark lashes that were so long they bordered on ridiculous. His arm was sheathed in a tattoo that snaked all the way up from wrist to neck. I could see the beginnings of another tattoo peeking through his collar on the other side as well. Gods it worked on him, he was gorgeous, great.

"Ari?" I asked him, holding out my hand for him to shake. I was glad I scrubbed up enough to get my hands clean. The tips on left hand were a bit scabbed over from playing so much lately but I still looked presentable at least.

"Ryann?" He asked back, looking a little puzzled. I looked more hippie than assassin tonight, which is how I usually dressed. I knew he was picturing someone different, and I was pleased he seemed to like what he saw. I always enjoyed surprising people, it was an advantage when facing an opponent.

"Yeah," I said brilliantly back. I needed a drink to occupy my mouth until I got it together enough to hold a conversation. "I'm going to go grab a coffee and I'll be right back," I said awkwardly to him. I wanted to take a deep breath and get this feeling of nervousness out of the way.

I got up to the counter and ordered a black coffee, to the astonishment of the barista. He looked affronted he wasn't going to get to show off his special skills. I liked my coffee to taste like coffee too much to muck it up with cream and sugar.

When I got back to the table, he was sitting there reading the local paper. He folded it down on the table when I came over and looked at my cup. I looked at his in turn, and noticed it was black too.

"Did he give you the evil eye?" Ari asked me smirking when he noticed what I was drinking.

"Yes, it was like I was offending him," I told him and laughed, the nervousness was slipping away a bit with each second.

"Thanks for meeting with me, I know this must be hard for you," Ari said, he didn't know the half of it.

"You were recommended by Luca, you two know each other?" I asked him. I wanted to know how much I could tell him, and how much he knew already.

"You want to ask me if I know what he is, and what you are. It's okay, he has filled me in before this case about your world. I have helped him, and a few others out from time to time. Sometimes it's just normal human realm issues that I can get done easily, and sometimes it's something bigger. He had to do some more filling me in for this one I must say," he said chuckling a bit. He was right I didn't want to ask him about all that up front. The fact that he was making this easier for me was a relief, and it set me on edge a bit. Good things, good people, didn't usually come my way without some pretty heavy strings attached.

"You must have helped Cole find me I imagine," I said smiling. I knew he couldn't have found me without some help.

"Yeah and it was difficult to track you down. I must say your case has been more time consuming than I thought," he said in a contemplative tone. It didn't sound like he was too put out about it, more like he was still trying to figure me out.

"I think calling me a hard case would be an accurate statement all the way around," I said morosely, not liking my tone. I really needed to stop all this self-pity.

"I think you've been dealt a really shitty hand Ryann. And I also think you did what you thought was right then, and trying your best to make it right now," he said plainly to me. I snapped my eyes up to him, a silent and disbelieving thank you in my eyes.

"That road leads to some dangerous thoughts Ari, I may have been manipulated but it was my hand. It was me that did those things, don't lose sight of that." He looked back at me, holding my stare. It was impressive, not many people could do that, human or not.

"That's your opinion, and it's your choice to view it that way. I may look at it differently but what matters is we find out everything we can about what happened. It's still your decision on how you view it but it's my job to give you all the evidence before you do," he said looking like he meant it.

He was the first one to allow me my feelings about it. It was almost freeing to allow myself that. I looked at him some more and my pulse was starting to race. He was so honest, so open, so hopeful, and so handsome he was giving me sensory overload. I couldn't remember the last time in the past seven years someone had been this kind to me. I tried to lean down, taking in deep breaths when my head got light enough I thought I might pass out.

"Ryann, are you alright?" Ari asked me kneeling down next to me, one hand on my face tilting my chin up and trying to pry my gaze off my shoes. I looked up to him, concern filling his eyes.

"I'm fine, that coffee punk probably slipped me a roofie," I told him laughing, shaking off his attempts to pry any further. "I haven't been eating well I guess, I'm fine now."

Ari sat back in his seat looking like he was waiting for me to say something, to make the next move. I could trust him, I was sure of it now. It didn't make any of this easier though.

"I don't want Luca and Cole to know we met, or Juke or London. I especially don't want Dominic to know. He is an alpha male through and through, not comfortable unless he has complete control over a situation. He's going to try and take over the investigation, to try to direct it how he wants but I want you to only focus on Kyle. I need to find out who was backing her. Kyle wasn't smart enough to come up with all this alone. She had some connections, and it's important I know who those people are," I explained to him. We could talk in depth about it later, in private, but the sooner he can start on all this the better.

"I can do that, I can't guarantee anything, but I will do the best I can to focus on Kyle and keep the guys from intruding too much." That was all I could ask for really.

"I would appreciate that Ari. If you need anything else you can call." I got up to leave, I was spent emotionally and I really needed a good night sleep.

"I will. You take care of yourself Ryann, if you need anything else you can call me as well," he said rising with me, holding his hand out. I shook it and felt the heat from his hand warm my own, a shock of something nice racing up my limb.

I found Leah, thankfully waiting for me in the restaurant next to the coffee spot. "He sure is gorgeous," she told me smiling as she came out of the restaurant.

"I'm in trouble," I said back laughing.

I woke up the next morning feeling significantly better. I checked out the state of my bank account which still looked ridiculous. How my father thought I needed that much money, considering I wasn't even living here anymore, was beyond me. I voted down the idea to spend the day drinking and soaking in the tub and decided to do some other therapy. I might as well use the family money to my advantage now. I was going to do some shopping.

I had thrown most of what I had away and was left feeling confused about clothing choices. I knew I was going to buy some impractical things, but if they sent me right back I needed to be smart. I wanted versatility.

People dressed here much like the humans did on their plane but with a bit of an edge. Most tailored their clothing to match their communities.

The witches and warlocks tended to go long and billowy with dresses and cloaks for the more formal occasions. Their clothes had an almost historical edge, modern but classic in a magical sense. The shape shifters could range from wild to hippie depending on their personality. If you were really good at reading people you could tell what animal they shifted into just by looking at their clothes.

The vampires not surprisingly edged towards Goth. Some were separate thinkers, and dressed how they wanted, but even then their clothes were a bit dramatic. The elves and fairies were a crap shoot. Most of the time they were either wearing little to nothing, or had on some bizarre homemade outfit that looked like a craft store threw up on them. They kept to themselves the most anyway, so there was little point in trying to censor themselves.

Those that traveled the most to the human plane dressed far more conservative. They eschewed the dramatic in favor of boring. Traveling among the humans, I could tell you firsthand that a person all in black, and wearing a cloak, was not considered normal. It garnered looks of fear and often resulted in people walking on the other side of the street just to avoid them. Some of the witches used spells to transform their appearance once on the human plane, but that could be draining. They thrived on the magic on this plane so much that most never left for long enough to care about what they wore.

I stocked up on some practical layers like tanks and T-shirts with functional jeans, cargos, and skirts. Then I got some bar outfits to which I had the most fun trying on and picking out. When I noticed the prices, I almost stopped right there, they were far too expensive considering the amount of actual fabric they utilized.

I perused through the sporting goods section a bit longer than I needed to. I was dying to get out to the stables, but I decided not to get my hopes up about staying too long, so I didn't even look at riding gear. I could always beg Juke to let me into the Academy's paddock on a weekend, or break in if I got desperate enough. Once I rationalized breaking into a school to ride their horses, I decided continue in my delusion and stocked up on riding pants and boots.

I thought of what I had to look forward to next so I picked out two business like outfits for the hearing and the meetings I had lined up with Cole and his contacts for Thursday and Friday. I wanted to look put together enough to take seriously at least.

I should ask London to help sort out my hair. I loved these dreads but I think something more refined for the hearing would be good. She might be able to do a spell just for the hour, and that way if I had to go back out there I wouldn't have to go through the pain of the dreads again. I wondered if the magic would work on me but shook it off, if anyone had a chance of doing that, it was London. I didn't want to change my hair permanently, it took a long time to get them to look like this. How often do you run across African mages in the human plane anyway?

I was wrapping up my suit selection for the hearing, and headed to the desk to pay, when I ran into Caroline Morning. Caroline fucking Morning. Great, here goes my day. Every bad event in my childhood stemmed from Caroline. Every bad cliche about mean girls and bullies were made with her in mind. Thank the gods her posse wasn't with her. There wasn't enough Xanax in the world for that. Her long black hair was gleaming in a straight waterfall down the back of her dark gray cashmere shell. The black pencil shirt that follows must be an illusion. It was so tight around her curves and narrowed into her tiny waist it looked like it was painted on her. Was it too much to ask for some weight gain and a face full of pot marks?

Her obsidian eyes turned to me as she was on her way out with her bags, (all twelve million of them) and for the barest of seconds I thought I should keep my head down long enough to avoid a confrontation. Then I remembered I didn't give a rat's ass about what people thought of me and squared my shoulders just as she passed me.

"Well hello Ryann," Caroline said coolly, as if I had seen her every week for the past seven years.

"Hello Caroline," I said back, proud of myself for not punching her on site. I could be just as cold when I wanted to be.

"You look so…different. It has been so long since we have seen each other. We sure did miss you at the funeral," she said and I felt the world spin to a halt around me. All I needed was the record skipping sound effect. Did she really just say that to me? I stared her down, but she didn't even blink.

She looked hungry. She was dying for this moment to humiliate me. She even said it with a smile. Here we go, I wanted to keep my head up so now it's time to let everyone know I was back.

"It was such a sad time to see someone so young and full of promise gone from this plane. She was just everyone's sweetheart wasn't she? Everyone's favorite little vampire," Caroline said, trying to keep her emotions out of it but she curled her lip as she said it.

I was still having a hard time formulating words so she just kept going making a dramatic sigh then leaned in to speak into my ear, "Although now I hear our little Kyle had much more going on behind the scenes all these years that anyone ever thought. I mean can you believe what some are saying she did to you? I guess you can since that's what your story was all along," she told me with a giggle like it was funny. That's enough of that, I was about to lay it down whe she cut me off, noticing I was about to talk.

"Don't look so angry Ryann. It's not good for you. I hear with that clever chip in it suppresses all your magic, but intense emotions can really screw you up since you have no way of letting it out. I would just be devastated if it happened to me." She raised her hand to her chest like the idea was about to make her faint. She was right, she wouldn't survive two days like this.

"How's Cris doing Caroline?" I whispered back as I leaned in to speak into her ear now. I saw her eyes flash red for a beat and then they returned to their normal dark brown. "You know when I was in Seattle last fall I ran into him and his friend Paul at a music festival. I was shocked, I mean what are the chances of running into them so far from home? They seemed to be having a splendid time together too, it was a very intimate setting. I even found myself swept up in all the romance. I must say Paul has to be one of the most handsome shape shifters I had ever laid eyes on. His bear form is quite impressive too. Do you know he can isolate any part of his body to shift?" I waited for her to catch my meaning. She paled and I went in for the kill.

"You should be proud of Cris, he lived up to every reputation he ever earned at the Academy. I never had him then mind you, but half my class did. All those stories were true, he has a real talent. In fact I have some pictures from the festival if you want to see them. I doubt Cris showed them to you, or your parents for that matter. We should do lunch and I can tell you all about it. Better yet we can make it just you and dear old Dad. I will be seeing him at the Tribunal meeting will I not?" I asked her with malicious sarcasm. She turned an impressive shade of green. _Would they make me pay for the suit if she threw up her lunch on it? _As London said, blood was so hard to get out.

"Stay away from Cris. Stay away from me and my family, and there will be no trouble from my father," she said in a gentle tone, like one would use with a spooked animal. Holy shit, was pretty, pretty princess giving up so easily? They must really be ashamed of what Cris has been up to for her to back off this fast. That last part about pictures must have sealed the deal, I knew I would benefit from sleeping with Cris one day. I should put those Polaroid's in the safe deposit box when I got back.

Caroline looked to where some had gathered, watching out exchange. They couldn't hear what we said, but they got the base of our feelings for each other and they were hoping to catch a good old catfight.

"It was lovely to see you Caroline. I'm sure you agree when I say I hope it never happens again." I turned around but not before I heard her gasp indignantly and walk out. I paid for my suit and found her sitting in her car on the road outside the store. She was staring out the window and looking murderous. Small victories make the world go round.

**Rumors**

I saw Cole and Juke walk into my office, and by the looks on their faces I knew this wouldn't be a conversation that would please me. That also meant that this visit was about Ryann. I have been waiting for the shit to hit the fan and it looks like the first wave was coming my direction.

"Hey Cole, Juke, you ready for lunch now or do you want to chat first? I had Mari order in so we can have some privacy here in the office." I really needed to know if what we were about to talk about might bring my lunch back up if we ate first.

"I think we can talk and eat at the same time, I have to get back to London and the house. She said Ryann called and wants to have dinner with us. Apparently she ran into Caroline while she was in town and it went...well it went as well as you could imagine it going," Cole said with a grimace.

That must have been awful for everyone involved. Caroline and her family were some of the vilest vampires I had ever known. Their friends were no better, but she was the one responsible for so many fights growing up. Caroline especially hated Ryann and Kyle. I had seen Caroline at Kyle's funeral looking like a shark in bloody water. She had a look in her eyes that promised she was hungry to inflict her pain on Ryann any way she could.

"Was Ryann upset?" I asked him.

"London didn't seem too worried about it. She had a good laugh about something they were talking about, so I'm guessing that Caroline was on the losing end of the exchange. Did she think the chip took out Ryann's brain? She should know better than to go head to head with her. We should have been there to charge admission. I know at least a dozen that would pay to see the Morning family take a hit or two." He had a satisfied smile on his face that matched my own.

"That's too much for anyone to handle. Did you talk to her at all?" I asked, knowing it must have shaken her a little.

"No, London would have told me if it was bad though," Cole said, making me feel a bit better about it.

"You think she will be sober for dinner?" I asked softly. I had been updated on Ryann's escalated drug and alcohol habits, as rumors and sightings came to me. It was worrying, she was always skirting the edge of dangerous and it got worse when she was in exile.

"I don't know man," Juke shook his head. "She's doing better than I thought she would so far so I think it really helps her. She must be carrying around so much guilt about everything, not to mention all that pent up magic she can't release. If it helps her out it's none of my damn business, she's an adult and I think we should give her some space." I knew Juke wanted to help, but he just didn't get it. It was my turn to shake my head at him.

"I don't think any of that shit is good for her Juke. None of it, but what can I do about it," I said as I shrugged. "I still can't believe this is all really happening you know. I have to see her soon or I'm going to go nuts. Do you know I followed her out the other day when she went for a run? It took me fifteen minutes just to put the spell in place to disguise my appearance. Thank the gods she can't smell as well as she used to, I could barely keep up with her and I was sweating like a sinner in church." I finished the thought and saw Cole cough awkwardly.

"She probably smelled you brother. I hate to say it but she is not as helpless as they tried to make her. When I finally tracked her down, she smelled me the second got I upwind from her, and that was in the human plane Dom. I didn't even have the concealment all the way off and she knew something wasn't right. She was right in front of a fire and she could still smell me. I haven't seen her in five years Dominic, five fucking years and she picked me out just like that," he said and looking proud about it too.

"She could hear me breathing from at least a hundred yards," Juke added in. He noticed my raised eyebrows but still nodded. That's hard for someone will full magic to do.

Juke continued, "In my defense I had fallen asleep for a couple minutes towards the end because this ass hat was taking so long. I am very stealth like when I need to be." He tipped up his chin up and was fighting a smirk. "They should have been smart enough to put two chips in. There is no way one of those could hold back her magic, no way, "Juke said. Her Dad had voted for two chips. I didn't feel the need to add that in, they knew it too.

"I heard it was discussed, but never approved. Someone must have stepped up to bat for her." Cole added in. Yeah me, but there was no way I was going to allow them to do that to her, even if I had to beg my father to step in about it.

"Two could have killed her altogether," I said quietly, appalled at the thought.

"One would have killed me. Can you imagine being cut off from your animal? Having no use of your spells?" Juke said looking sick and I could understand why. Since we were all magical beings, and were all born from magic, and we could use spells. The more powerful your blood, the more powerful your form was, and the more powerful your spell use was.

"I heard she can't even have blood with the chip in," Juke said seriously.

"I would never have survived it all. I have no clue how she did for this long," I told them. Juke looked at me and I looked at Cole and we shared a moment of pity for Ryann. Neither of us would ever show her that face, she would take one look at us and castrate us on the spot if she ever saw it.

"Have you run into Rhett anywhere?" Juke asked as I noticed he was kicked by Cole at the same time. He was giving him the 'What is wrong with you shut your mouth look' and it set off a warning flag in my mind.

"No not yet, but even if I did, I don't think it would be news for either of you so just spill it." I looked between the two. They were actually playing rock paper scissors to see who had to talk to me about it. This is was not good.

"Well," Juke continued obviously the loser of the game, "Rhett went to D's the other night to celebrate the internship with some of his buddies and Ryann happened to be there." He turned a deep shade of red.

"Tell me you are not about to tell me that blasted tiger slept with my ma... with Ryann. Whatever you do, do not tell me he slept with her," I said this in what Ryann used to call my scary voice. She always said it was worse when I yelled.

"No, Rhett did go back to her apartment though…" Juke began to say. That was all of the sentence he got out because I had jumped from my seat and landed in a jump of pure fury onto the edge of my desk. My legs were bent with my knees angling out, and my hands were hanging in between them one gripping the edge of the desk and the other one in a fist. I could feel the fur sheathing my arms under my dress shirt and my teeth were elongating in my mouth.

I leaned down to look Juke in the eyes, "Now would be the time that you get on with it quickly while I still have a shred of my control left." He looked like he wasn't sure I had any brakes at all, and I wasn't sure I did anymore either.

Cole continued, he knew I would have a harder time punching him. "He went back with some buddies to play some poker. He said it was pretty tame for the most part. I know they smoked some stuff, obviously Ryann had the human stuff and some of the other guys were sharing some other crap Malachi has been peddling lately. I guess at one point Ryann went to bed, and was quickly followed by that Leah chick and some guy he said looked like Captain America," Juke laughed.

"Didn't anyone know who he was?" I snapped.

"No one was sure who he was, but that he was a friend of Leah's that was traveling through town for a short while," Cole said softly. Great, Leah, the Captain, and Ryann doing gods know what in her bedroom. This was a complication I did not need, I was having a hard enough time sleeping as it was.

"Leah?" It sounded familiar. I breathed away a gasp and said, "The succubus?"

"You can't blame her taste Dominic," Juke chuckled and I looked at him with the barest of smirks. It was impossible with Juke not to smile and talk to him.

"She must have done it for the blood, but she shouldn't be able to do that at all. I didn't think Ryann was into women too, but maybe she was there for another reason. No it had to have been the blood. She always did have a thing for the immortals," I said thinking out loud. Epically the demon blood, I remembered to myself.

"I heard Jason was part angel so if she used them in the right way, she must have had one hell of a night," Juke said openly smirking now. After a minute of all three of use enjoying an immature but private mental picture until someone broke the silence.

"Oh, ask him about what she did to London!" Juke exclaimed like a little kid with a secret.

Cole kicked him again and explained what London had said about walking into the house and scaring Ryann to the point she attacked her.

"London said she couldn't smell her? How did she smell you Cole, and hear Juke, yet London got in and close to her without her knowing who it was?" I asked shuddering, poor London. What a way to say hello again after all this time.

Cole smiled, truly smiled, and said with a blush, "She's pregnant." His chest was puffing up just as my stomach dropped. It had been so long since I felt that feeling, I needed to get a grip and be here for him, this wasn't about me and my shit.

"I think it must be mixing with her normal scent, and Ryann couldn't pick up on it," he stated.

"That's incredible Cole," I said noticing my voice was breaking a bit at the end. "I couldn't possibly be happier, or meet two people who deserve it more than the two of you." I dropped at some point from my attack stance and I was now man hugging Cole like a little girl, I could care less too. We had been through too much not to take the celebrations when we could.

"I didn't know how you would take it after everything that happened, but it is nice to get some good news around here. It's been too long since we all had a slice of happy," Cole told us still looking cautious.

"It was a long time ago Cole, you just focus on London and let me set my own brain out okay? It's my issue not yours, so enjoy this time brother." A thought so excruciating flooded my system.

"Are you going to be telling Ryann tonight?" I breathed, realizing why London would want Cole to run home and prepare for dinner. Cole paled himself for a second and I had my answer.

"I need you to promise me one thing Cole," I looked over to where he was heading for the door following Juke. "If she flies off the rails tonight you need to promise me you will either call me or get her help."

I was having very bad thoughts about what was about to happen. I couldn't shake the feeling.

"Dom, I think seeing you might be worse, but if things go south I'll call," he said looking very nervous.

"He can call me, I know her enough to know what to do, but not enough to trigger the memory too much," Juke said looking over his shoulder. "I would do anything to help her out, I was there that night too you know."

I almost always forgot that Juke was just as much a part of this as anyone. He was so carefree and always joking around, it was easy to forget he was just as affected as we were. He just handled it better than the rest of us raging cavemen.

"He's right," I told Cole. If she needed someone I don't care who it was as long as it helped her.

"I don't think you understand what she's like now. She pulled a knife on me Dominic," Juke said abruptly. I flinched back at what he was saying. Ryann was fiery and full of life but she was never violent like that with her friends.

"I was teasing her in the clearing we found her in and she pulled a knife on me. She said some crazy stuff, including admitting getting mixed up with Swift and his crew for a while." I blanched at the last part of that, hating to know that particular rumor was true. I knew grown men that were scared of Swift, and when I heard she was with him I was hoping it wasn't true.

"She needs someone to turn to, because one day she is going to go too far with this tough girl bit and she is going to do something that she regrets. She needs to let something out or she's going to explode. If that person turns out to be you then great, if that turns out to be me than that's fine too, but one way or another we have to bring her back. That woman we found looked like Ryann and acted a little like Ryann, but it wasn't our Ryann. We owe it to her to try and bring her back." I had never heard Juke talk like that. It brought me out of my pain and I focused on what he said.

"You found her in a clearing?" I asked Cole, finally figuring out the important parts of what was being said.

"Yeah in the middle of the woods in California. She must have been a good mile from the closest trail too. From the information I could uncover, it looks like she has been living outside in tents and encampments for the last two years at least, possibly longer. There is a gap in accountability missing from the time she got jumped out of Swift's crew to when she started living like that seriously. My gut tells me it took a while to heal from the beating it took to break free," Cole informed me. My face must be turning green the nausea was rising up when I thought about her alone and vulnerable like that.

"The next intel we got was that she had caught up with some exile encampments out in the Mohave desert. There was one report of her sighted around a military base for a while but who knows? She tried keeping up with traveling groups around that area, but since she could only stay for two weeks in one place she moved too much to be part of the more established exile communities," Cole said, even though I already knew most of that.

"I knew it was bad for her but it sounds worse when you put it like that," I murmured towards my shoes.

"She's had to build some walls but I've seen her a few times peek through her armor. She's in there and we are all going to be here when she shows her face," Cole said firmly.

"I'm meeting on Thursday with the investigator Luca recommended and he is going to come with me back to the apartment to talk to Ryann. We need to go over what we know so far, and most of it will be spent going over what Kyle left for us and what the tribunal will want to talk with her about. I'll let you know how it goes. Do you want me to tell her how involved you have been, or should I leave you out of it for now?" he asked me. I had no answer so I just stared at him like the answer would just come to me. I had one shot at making things right for her and I didn't want to mess it up by being pushy.

'Mo_st of this was your idea Dominic and I think she might see things differently if she knew the work you put in to this. You have some time, it's only Tuesday so you have two days. But I wouldn't wait so long she thinks you just don't care. Just think about it_,' he spoke only to my mind, giving me privacy to deal with the realities this situation brought up. I nodded and saw them out.

Mira called as soon as they left the office. We talked about dinner plans, and I sounded like an automated line, no inflection no emotion at all in my voice. At some point all this was going to catch up with me, and I was going to crash. I said goodbye to her and then sat at my desk, put my head in my hands, and realized I never touched my lunch at all.

**Dinner Party**

I was wearing my long black stretchy skirt that I had just bought, and paired it with some sensible flat sandals and my steady but true combo of gray tank and fitted leather jacket. I thought I looked pretty smart for a girl who had spent the last couple years killing her own meals and living in the middle of nowhere.

After getting back from shopping and taking a bath, I decided I would include London in the happenings of my day. We were a long way from okay, but the verbal smackdown I gave Caroline was too satisfying not to share. As I retold her what had happened I heard her laugh when I got to the part where I suggested I could share my photos of Cris. It sounded so nice to hear it again. It almost brought tears to my eyes. It had been too long since I had laughed like that myself.

London convinced me to have a quick dinner with her and Cole that night so I could retell the story again. She said that he would enjoy it so much, and the story should be told in person to get the full effect. I knew what she was doing, she was trying to reel me back in but I let her anyway. That was progress in my book. I could do dinner, how bad could things get in a couple of hours anyway?

This led me to where I was now, knocking on their front door with a bottle of wine in my hand that I picked up on the way here. This was so domestic of me, it was so outside my reality, that it didn't seem real. I almost felt like at any moment the director was going to come out and tell me I was a horrible actress. My current plan was to fake it until it became real. I'll keep playing the role of formerly broken, but soon to be whole Ryann, and eventually the pieces will click and I will be. Right?

London opened up the door and led me into her house. It was light and airy, decorated in only a way London could. Everything was either white or a light blue. Every rug, every shade, every curtain, every detail was immaculate and clean and bright. It contrasted nicely with the gleaming dark wood floors and floor to ceiling windows. It was like living in the clouds.

"It's a bit much, I know. But I just don't know how to decorate it any other way so I just gave up pretending." She looked around and I noticed she looked happy. My chest eased a bit and I felt my nerves settle when I realized she was happy. She continued, "I am getting too old to care about how much someone else is going to like my own house. I like it and that's enough for me," she said with a shrug. That was London, she always stayed true to who she was.

"Well I think it's brilliant. Dinner smells delightful too Lon, is that venison steaks I smell?" I asked trying not to drool all over myself in the process. They were my favorite and since London was cooking, I knew she did this on purpose. This smells like a 'butter you up before I tell you bad news' dinner. I reminded myself that not everything was a bad sign and tried to stay in the present.

"I had to cook your favorite since you agreed to come over! Now throw your jacket on the rack and get in there and open up that wine. Cole should be home any minute and we can eat. Is there anything you want to eat besides the steaks?" she asked with a nervous laugh.

"I had the leftover blood Cole put in the fridge earlier so I'm good for now. The steaks and fixings should be fine for me. Thanks for thinking of it though." I had to drink much more while I was here in this plane than in the human one. The magic in the air was finally breathing some life into my cells, but at the expense of my stomach. I thought after feeding from Leah I could go a couple of days without worrying but it didn't take as much of an edge off as I would have liked. I should have been concerned she figured it out, but I couldn't muster the energy. I had bigger problems to worry about then her knowing I still needed blood.

London was frowning about something but once she realized I was looking at her back she shook it off and put a smile on her face.

"Grab down three glasses Lon and I'll pour your drinks," I told her working the wine key around the bottle. She paused for a second and then put two glasses in front of me.

"I'm good for now you can pour one for Cole and yourself...Oh here he is!" she said sounding relieved as she half ran to the front door. Weird. Maybe she was just as nervous about this as I was.

Cole pulled up a stool at the kitchen bar top after changing out of his suit, and took a glass of the wine I had poured. He clinked my glass with his own. He was waiting for me to say it, and I couldn't stop the smile that spread when I thought about toasting with him again.

"Best while you have it use your breath, there is no drinking after death," I said glass held high, and we each took a long drink of our wine. It was the salute we used when we would hit the bar after a mission, a reminder of what we could lose every time we went out.

I noticed London stopped chopping for the toast, then retreated quickly to the bathroom. He threw me a quick smile and proceeded to check on London, who I could hear trying to cry quietly. I set the table and put all of the food out, giving her time.

I spent the next hour eating everything I could get my hands on, while retelling my story of the encounter with Caroline. Cole was bent double laughing and slapping his knee when I got to the part of the pictures and how I was going to have a little get together with her and Leon Morning, their father. I let his happiness wash over me. It was like magic, the real human kind that was just as powerful as the real thing.

I could see his mood permeating the room, swirling me and sending smoky tendrils of hope and joy around my broken body. I didn't fix anything but it sure felt nice.

I sent Cole into a fit of apoplexy at one point when he caught the implications of how I got those photos of Cris and our time in Seattle. His jaw hardened and he looked about ready to punch someone.

"Did you have to sleep with him though Ry?" Cole asked me not doing a good job of hiding his disgust.

It was a good question, I debated it for a while before I decided I would do it. I couldn't have gotten what I was looking for from him though without going all the way with my plan. In the end I got what I wanted and I didn't regret any part of it. Well maybe one picture I could have done without. I shuddered at the memory, some things should never see the light of day.

I needed to change the subject into safer territory and get the hell out of here before I got too comfortable.

"Oh my goodness London, you really outdid yourself tonight, this is the best meal I have had in a very long time," I said patting my belly and hoping all these extra calories would fatten me up a bit. I couldn't remember the last time I really felt full, and I knew I needed it. Having to hunt down your own food all the time could be exhausting. Although it was a bit easier for me since I had a convenient means to drain the meat of blood.

"I'm so glad you decided to come over," London said and I noticed she had tears in her eyes just before she looked down at her hands that were currently twisting the napkin into a crumpled ball in her lap. What was going on with her?

"Are you okay London? What's going on?" I asked her. She looked back to me and she smiled as she blinked back the tears.

"I'm pregnant Ryann." My heart jumped into my throat as my stomach made its way into the floor. I took a deep breath and did a mini-meditation session in my head, feeling like my head was spinning. I needed to put my head between my legs, but I opted to stay strong and try to tough it out.

When I looked back to London, she was smiling at Cole. She had a 'light up the room' kind of smile, the kind that was impossible not to return. I couldn't take this moment away from her, she should be happy and for once not worried about me. I gave her the best smile I could manage and reached across the table to grab her hand and give it a squeeze. It had the opposite effect I wanted it to, and she really let the tears loose after that, incoherently saying things into her hands.

She was sobbing into Cole's chest now, saying that she ruined dessert and that she hoped I could forgive her. Forgive her, oh hell she's worried I'm going to go ballistic on them. I don't know how to fix this. If I talk my voice might not come out strong enough to convince her.

"Will it ever hurt less for you Ryann? How do you deal with everything? I'm crying because you smiled and squeezed my hand. I'm a freaking mess all the time. I don't know how you are still going on after everything that happened and now coming back here." London managed to squeak this out in between sobs. I pulled up a chair and sat on the other side of her, forcing her to look at me. She kept dabbing her eyes, avoiding my own for good reason.

I made her face me, turning her chin and giving her an encouraging smile. "It will never go away. It will get better and worse, and there are some days I don't think about it, but it never goes away. It's okay for it to be there as long as I can deal with it, and I can. I may not deal with it in a healthy way all the time, but I'm still here." I said it with a strong voice and I impressed myself.

"I'm going to head back and let you and Cole have some time to get yourselves together. I know that was hard for you and I'm glad you told me. It must be why I didn't notice you in the apartment the other morning. Oh gods, I can't believe I attacked you!" My voice came out in a pathetic breath at my last statement. I slapped my hand over my mouth, horrified at myself. I got up and started to backpedal away from them, horrified at myself. I was going to have to stay away from her until I got my shit under control. I stepped back out of the dining room, too ashamed at what I could have done to be in the room any longer.

"Its okay, she can heal herself faster than most witches could even hope to, and I don't think you really hit her hard," he said trying to coax me back into the room. Cole was going for reassuring but I was starting to feel worse about everything.

The image of me taking her down was replaying in my mind on a sick loop, gods how many lives could I manage to ruin in one lifetime.? I could have killed her and the baby. The look on my face must have scared London because she started crying again and when Cole went to go and comfort her again I ran out the door into the night.

**Air**

I heard someone shout my name, but my heart was beating in my ears so loudly I couldn't understand the words that was being shouted in my direction. I needed to fill my lung with some fresh and cool air. I wasn't running from their news, or their happiness, although I knew that's what they would think. I was running because in the end, I knew I was the one who ruined things. I had to get away before I destroyed them all again, I should have never gone to their house. After all this time I should know better.

I was running around the blocks surrounding their house, heading back towards the direction of the brownstone but not trying to get back just yet. I looked like a wild animal fleeing in terror, hair flaring in a wave behind me. I stopped to get control of myself, the last thing I needed right now was for my chip to get hot and alert the community guard.

I found a park bench nestled into an alcove between two townhouses, and focused on slowing my breathing, getting as much air into my lungs as possible. I should be carrying a flask with me at all times, I thought to myself, it would solve the majority of my problems_._

I could taste the magic in the air as I greedily filled my lungs. If I were trying to do this on the human plane, it wouldn't work as well, it's the oxygen combined with the magic that was fixing me so fast. There was something about the air here that nourished something deep down in me. The chip was burning in my forearm, the way it sometimes did if I tried to push my residual power too far. It wasn't a design of the chip, but it was a side effect many of us exiled had experienced. I took another breath in to remind myself that if the Guard came out here I'd be screwed.

I reached down and noticed I had broken one of the straps on my sandals so I took them off. I stood up, sandals in hand and started to make the trek back to the apartment barefoot. I didn't care, the walk would feel good. I needed to call London and Cole and let them know I got home, and what my freak out was about. I didn't want to worry her any more than she probably already was, not in her condition.

I turned the corner on the next street and saw a group coming out of the bar on the far end. I must have run farther than I thought because I was on the same block as D's which meant I was a mere two blocks from the apartment.

I started to head down the block when I noticed a group of men heading my way. When I got within about twenty yards of them I noticed they were all vampires, very big vampires no less. This was surprising because D's catered to more of the shape shifter crowd. It would be unusual for a couple of them to be at the bar, but a half dozen of them would mean some trouble. There were at least seven of them I could see from here, and I could shake the bad feeling that was rising in me.

If I crossed the street now, they are going to see me as prey, and my mother always said one should never run from a predator. She would know, her kill count was higher than mine.

I had taught myself to be lethal without my magic or my animal over the last seven years, but that many vamps would test even my skill. I touched the inside of my upper arm against the feel of my gun in its holster. I'm glad I opted for the leather tonight, it should conceal what I was packing better. Even with the advantage of firepower I'm not sure I could come out of this alive.

If they had any thoughts of leaving me alone, I shouldn't draw any attention to myself. I put my head down just enough so that I looked more like I wanted to be left alone than I was shrinking from them. When I got within ten yards they all were looking at me and no one was saying a thing, not one word passed between them. A group of friends leaving a bar would be talking and laughing, or at least interacting with each other.

Within five yards of them I noticed they were blocking the entire sidewalk. I was going to have to go into the street in order to continue on my course. I looked up one last time, the point when I would have to decide to either push my way through the group or jump into the street to move around them. When I locked eyes with Cris, my blood stopped pumping for a second, the only thought I had was that he must be coming for me. Surely his sister told him of my run in with her and now he was here to make me pay.

My blood must have drawn the attention of the rest of the group as they could surely hear the interruption in my heartbeat. Cris flung out his hand and pushed the closest vampire out of the way knocking him to the side of the building and creating a nice little pocket in their wall of flesh. I stared for second, mouth open, he was letting me pass.

I stuttered in my step for a half second and decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. When no one tripped me as I passed their physical barrier, I couldn't help look over my shoulder at their retreating backs. Everyone was moving on but Cris looked back my direction, giving me a brief nod before continuing on. I tried to keep moving my I knew my mouth must have been hanging wide open.

Cris must really want to stay under the radar if he's willing to let me go, or he is the only decent member of the Morning family. This made me think that Caroline didn't tell him about my threat. Maybe his parents are riding his ass about towing the line, or maybe I was a better lay than I thought.

I entered the apartment and flicked on some light as I made my way to the coffee maker. I flipped the switch so what was left over in the pot from earlier would heat up. I picked up the phone, noticing the light from the machine was a solid red. It wasn't even blinking, so the machine was probably at its maximum. The messages would all be the same so I didn't even bother listening to them. I dialed London's number and someone picked it up after a half ring.

"Oh my gods Ryann? Are you okay?" she asked frantically, her voice coming out shrill through the receiver.

"I'm fine Lon, I just needed to get out of there. I'm sorry for scaring you guys but I just needed to clear my head a bit. I can't just spell myself or disappear anymore you know," I said with a small laugh, never envisioning I would ever miss those tricks. I waited for her response.

"I'm sorry you have to go through this on top of everything else, but I'm glad you are okay Ryann. Call me tomorrow?" she asked in a hopeful voice.

"Tomorrow I have to get my shit together Lon. I'm going to hunker down here and sort through some of the paperwork Cole had sent over in preparation for the meetings on Thursday. If I need anything I'll call though. Don't worry," I told her.

"Okay," She said quietly back to me. I heard her start to say something and then quieted, deciding not to talk.

"Night Lon," I said back.

"Night Ry," was her response. Then I heard the receiver click and I put the phone down, feeling both better and worse at hearing how broken up she sounded.

I headed towards the bedroom, and I thought I heard the sound of a footstep somewhere behind me. There were some heavy duty protection spells Cole had placed on the apartment, and I knew that my imagination was just running away with me now. The confrontation with Cris shook me than I thought.

I got changed into my nightgown, a long silk number with a small lace trim and a slit up the side all the way past my knee. I had never made such an unnecessary purchase in the last five years and it felt great. It had a racer back made completely out of the same lace as the trim and it felt light and breathable, plus I was an active sleeper so the room it gave me to move in was great. That and it made me feel like a woman. I smelled the coffee, and realized I had forgot all about my nightcap.

I walked towards the kitchen trying to figure out how much whisky I would need to add, so I could sleep through the night. I flicked on the light in the kitchen and stared into the face of an intruder.

He was close to six feet tall with dark brown eyes and rich chocolate hair that fell to his collar. He was not overwhelmingly large with meant whatever magic power he packed must be substantial. Whoever sent him here would not be messing around. Everyone knew where my power level was before I left, and even with the chip I knew the stories had gotten back here about how I was compensating for the loss. I was going to load up on my weapons if I got out of this alive. There would be one every square foot of this bloody apartment.

I did a quick survey of the room and what was at my disposal, which wasn't much. The coffee pot was closest to me on the counter near the sink but the knives were clear across the room. The phone was on the opposite counter, also out of reach, and I had put my gun away when I got in.

He had his head tilted to the side like a child would examine a bug on the sidewalk, right before he stomped on one.

"You are so much smaller than I thought you would be," he said sounding almost disappointed. "I have heard stories but they must not all be true, you could not have possibly done what they claim."

He wasn't moving at all. No twitches to indicate movement, not furry parts sticking through his normal skin. He must be a warlock, whoever wants me dead would want to hit me with some powerful magic to avoid any hand to hand combat with me.

I had several snappy comebacks ready, but decided against it. I didn't want to either confirm or deny what he was saying. When he didn't say much else, I had to wonder if he really was here for the reason I thought. Maybe he didn't come here to kill me. Oh shit. That meant he might be sent to see how I was now, with the chip in. Perhaps it was a test? I could feel my hands start to sweat, the hairs on my arms were raised.

If he was here gathering information I was screwed. I could show him what I could really do or I could take this beating so they he could report back that I was harmless. Well harmless compared to what I was capable of. I wouldn't put it past the council or my father to hire someone to do this.

I had only taken one other beating before, and I almost died doing it. I told myself I would never let someone do that to me again. I had no choice tonight, if I wanted my freedom back I had to play this smart.

If it came to it, I had to hit him hard enough to make him think I wasn't bluffing but not show him what I was truly able to do. My power made me a target before and I lost everything. This time I had to play it smarter. This is going to be a disaster, I thought, as I imagined what I would do if he so much as touched me.

In the next minute we continued to stare at each other. I was having a very fierce debate with myself on how much I should hold back, when he struck first.

The first spell hit me like a freight train. Even though I sensed it coming, I flinched convincingly while attempting to soften the blow by bending into it. It propelled me down the hallway and I found myself staring up at the doorjamb between the hallway and the bedroom at the front. The pretty lights sure did look nice swirling around above my head, and I could feel some wet heat seep into the hair at the back of my neck. At least I didn't have to pretend he hurt me, I was pretty messed up as it was.

He appeared in my vision with a rather viscous smile on his face, then I felt the bile rise in my throat when I saw he was leering at me scrawled on the floor in my nightgown. I was showing some serious skin, and he licked his lips as he proceeded to lift me up by my hair. That might have been a mistake on his part. I hated when people touched my hair, and it made me very angry when someone tried to use it as leverage in a fight. Clearly, either no one told him, or he simply didn't care. I got in a few good kicks to his midsection that sounded like it may have broken a rib or two, while landing some punches to his upper body before he snatched my hand and twisted it behind my back, taking a position behind me.

"You punch like a girl, a very butch girl, but a girl none the less. Although you do kick like a prize fighter, those rumors of what you did in Rio must have been true then," he whispered in my ear as he licked the side of my neck right over where my pulse was.

I was fighting back a sense of horror as I realized he was slowly inching me towards the bedroom. I couldn't let him do that, I would not go there I didn't care if I had to drain him of every last drop of his blood and let the cat out of the bag. I bit into his arm and felt my fangs elongate. They were out further than I had ever pushed them before and it was like taking a long stretch after spending an eternity sitting still. It was almost sensual. I might have even moaned. _Talk about inappropriate..._

He flinched back, surprised, and I used the opportunity to get away in the opposite direction. He had caught my foot at the last second and it forced me to crawl backwards on all four towards the kitchen. I was having a good internal debate whether to go for the knives or the phone.

"Interesting...I thought that was impossible for you to do that. Even if you hardly drew any blood, that sure hurts like a bitch," he was laughing slightly while examining his wound and it pissed me the hell off. I snapped.

"If this chip was out you would be dead already and we both know it. I would rip into your balls with my claws and shred your veins while I sucked every last drop of your magic out of your body. You wouldn't be able to do a damn thing about it either," I hissed out through clenched teeth. I was seething, and I wanted to hand out some pain of my own.

"But you do have that chip in," he told me while making his way over to me. He finally reached me and tried to push his hand up my thigh, which led to a wrestling match on the floor of the room.

I managed to scrap with him for a couple of minutes, we were rolling all over the living room tipping over the coffee table, lamp, and destroying the glass visage of the china cabinet. I was going at about forty percent of what I could and if I didn't stop fighting soon I was going to give myself away and do something stupid, like kill him.

I got a few more good punches and kicks and got one good nut shot in on him too. Then I decided to dial it back, and before long he gave me a few viscous punches combined with some pretty hefty holding spells.

I wasn't sure I could break them if I tried. He could isolate my body and move it with his mind. He was twisting my neck with his spells to get a perfect angle before punching me. He could have only used his magic but the combination of it and his physical strength I knew was meant to humiliate me. He mentally ripped my nightgown off and licked one of my breasts. I gouged one of his eyes and he went back to pummeling my face. He would twist my body into specific shapes in order to get the maximum effect of his beating. Once my eyes were almost completely swollen closed, he took turns on my chest and abdomen. That hurt like a bitch, and I almost preferred what he was doing to my face over that.

After a couple of minutes I heard a pop and realized one of my ribs had broken and was probably dangerously close to puncturing my lung. The same realization must have crossed his mind because he pulled back. He stood and examined his work like a master painter lounging away from his easel, enjoying what he created. He cursed softly and murmured something about having to stop just when he was starting to warm up. _Why aren't my ears working? _It was like I was in a tunnel and every sound was far, far away.

He was chanting an incantation over my body and if I was hearing him right he said enough healing chants to keep me from bleeding out. I wondered why it was so important that he not kill me. He must be scared of whoever hired him. I heard him rip the phone out of the wall on his way out the door and then I was alone, bleeding and broken, discarded on the floor.

I did a visual scan of my body as I lay on the floor of the living room, my blood fanning out from different parts of my body and soaking the carpet. My nightgown was ripped completely off on top and I was in a pair of silk panties that were new and clean at least. They were now covered in blood and I realized it was from my side. My arm was definitely broken, bent slightly funny in between the elbow and wrist from a kick he hammered to me right after I kicked him in his naughty bits for the second time. The other side of my ribs was also in similar pain, and I was bleeding from several facial cuts and a gash to the back of my head. The bleeding had almost stopped completely because of his incantation, and I knew I wouldn't have lasted without it.

He had left my legs mostly intact, but with my midsection being so injured I didn't think standing was going to be physically possible for me. Crawling was out of the question also with my arm. I could grab enough of the carpet in the living room to propel myself forward but once I hit the hard wood it would be impossible. I would have to wait for someone to come out.

Hopefully London would ignore my previous talk with her and decide to check in on me. I settled in and closed my eyes the rest of the way and tried not to think about how long it might be before someone found me.

**Pink**

I woke up some time later and realized I had actually made it through the night. I also blessedly managed to stay unconscious for most of it. This morning was a different story. I awoke and the pain was so intense it was making me nauseous. I must have a concussion, the pain in my head was so bad it felt like fire licking my brain. That same pain followed down the skin of the left side of my body.

It was times like these that the lack of my power was so brutal. My animal was begging to be released, to heal me, to make me whole. To avenge, a very primal need was calling out to my useless body.

I had never considered removing the chip for fear that they would plug me with another one, and then I would surely be dead, so that was out of the question for now. Even if I took it out now they could say I had someone beat me up so I would have an excuse. That I staged it all to get away. I never had a good enough reason to risk them killing me, but if no one came up tomorrow morning I would have no choice, it was that or die here alone.

I managed to throw up over my shoulder at the thought, but didn't manage to miss my hair. Wonderful. I put my meditation skills to the test and managed to control myself a bit better. It allowed me to throw up only two more times during the day and kept my pain at a level that dropped off enough so I finally fell back asleep on and off for most of the daylight.

I woke up to a confusing sound. I sounded like crying but I couldn't tell if I was making that noise or if it was coming from someone else. I smelled Cole and realized that I had company. I decided to play dead, or close to it, I wanted to be sure of what was happening before I made my presence known.

"Juke will you take London home? She's seen enough and I don't want her to see any more. It's bad enough having to see Ryann like this at all. She doesn't need to be here when we try to move her," I could hear Cole say.

"I'm not leaving her," came London's voice, clear and strong. It sounded close to me, I could feel her breath on my face. She must be the person petting the good side of my head. No wonder animals begged to be petted, it was a fabulous feeling.

I heard arguments for the next ten minutes before I heard Juke pick London up and remove her from the apartment. The voice I heard next almost made me vomit again.

"I'm going to head into the office and try to figure out as much as I can on my end Cole. I need to look like I know nothing about this," I head his deep silky voice say. Oh no, this can't be happening. I could feel the air on my body. I have to see him after all this time now? I have to face him now, when I'm basically naked and covered in blood. I had the absurd urge to reach down and try to cover myself.

Dominic sounded like his voice was breaking with anger. It was strong but he had a scary edge to it. Was it fury? He was talking to Cole again too low for me to hear and I realized I missed it. I missed hearing him talk. His voice was like an anesthetic, putting out the fires on my body. It was flooding me with a cool kiss of something I couldn't put my finger on.

If I could have guessed how I was going to see him again I don't think this would have even made the top hundred. I was debating opening my eyes or letting them figure it out. My mouth decided for me without my input from my brain.

"Are you afraid of anyone knowing you've been with me Dominic? We wouldn't want to disappoint the council now would we?" It sounded like my voice, almost. If my throat had gone through a cheese grater.

His head snapped in my direction and he looked magnificent. _Seriously universe? _He looked taller and more muscular, but that may have been because I was still on the ground. His brown hair was cut short, shorter than he used to wear it. His whisky colored eyes flashed yellow and he frowned at my words. I didn't think I would come out so aggressive either buddy. I was in no state to censor myself now, it was take me or leave me at this point. Some primal part of my brain had taken over to survive.

He reacted by bending down and touching my hair, running the back of his hand on the side of my jaw. He was looking over my face, then placed a kiss to my forehead and a tear slipped out of his eye and splashed on my shoulder. It was so nice and I had gone through so much I decided to let myself have this moment if only for a second.

As if on command my voice was speaking my thoughts out loud with no filter.

"Did you ever really love me Dominic? Did you love me even when I wasn't yours?" I heard myself ask him, making no sense. Where the hell did that come from? Well I know where it came from, it was one of my songs. _Someone just kill me now, please._

"I loved you when you were anyone's, when you were everyone's but my own," he whispered touching my stomach.

My traitorous face split into a smile before I could pull it back. My mouth tasted like blood at I realized my lip must have split trying to smile.

"I'll never be any ones..." I trailed off confused losing track of what we were talking about. Why was everyone here? Why was I lying on the ground? Oh right I let that idiot beat the shit out of me.

Dominic looked down at my bloody underwear like he had been struck. He looked at Juke and Cole and let out a howl of rage so fierce it almost made me puke again. It was an awful noise, one filled with pain I could taste. I told him it was from my ribs when I crashed into the glass face of the cabinet. Everyone shared a glance looking to see if I was trying to be tough or telling the truth. When Dominic closed his eyes, I squeezed his with my good hand to reassure him.

"I would have ripped it off if he tried it. You know me," I wheezed out a laugh. I felt my eyes welling with tears. I really hit my head hard if I was letting this much of my wall down.

Without thinking I reached with my broken arm to cup his jaw and when my hand didn't work and pain rushed up my arm I reacted by vomiting again. At least I managed to make it to the other side and didn't spew all over him. I couldn't take the pain anymore. The physical combined with the emotional agony of smelling his scent threw me into a tail spin and I passed out again.

I woke up in the hospital and felt marginally better. I looked over to the side, and saw Juke and Cole sleeping on the chairs that lined the hospital room. I must be on the human plane again. This looked just like the one in the city. Why are we here? I thought back to what I could piece together on my own.

After I had lost consciousness in the apartment again, I woke up in time to remember being carried off into the hospital entrance by Juke. They started working on me, and I knew the moaning and crying this time was coming from my mouth. He must have transported me here. I head Juke screaming at the med techs to 'numb me up' or whatever the hell that meant. Whatever they were doing wasn't working, I cried out again and Juke actually growled at the nurses.

They looked terrified of him, I knew I would be. I weakly pointed out that they might have to do it the old fashioned way too, because of the chip. He looked panicked for a second and grabbed a tech as they went in search of someone to help. They found a strong enough healer to knock me out and work some chants on me to start healing. I knew it would help, but some of my wounds only time would heal. I was left untreated too long, and I wouldn't be as responsive to the treatments with my limitations. The healer suggested they take me into the other plane to give me the non-magical attention I would need as well.

Looking at the boys, I realized they looked horrible. They must have stayed with me the whole time. Juke stirred and looked at me noticing I was awake. He shook Cole and they both approached the bed. I had those little oxygen tubes up my nose and one must have been askew because Juke reached out to straighten it out.

"Thanks for helping me out guys. This hospital was a good call. Without some drugs I'm not sure the next few weeks would be bearable. I'm lucky this happened, I needed to stock up," I joked at them. I wanted to lighten the mood a little, but they looked too serious to laugh along with me.

They looked at each other and then Juke spoke up. "The healer at the hospital at home was able to reset your arm and help with the blood loss. The concussion he could help a bit but the rest will take the time." I looked down at the cast on my arm and noticed it was pink. Hot pink, I could land a plane with the cast it was so bright.

"Whose idea was the pink huh?" I asked them examining my limb. "It must have been you Juke, I'm going to shave your eyebrows off the next time you fall asleep. You should be careful around me, I would watch out if I were you." He finally cracked a smile.

"It was Dominic's idea actually. They were going to give you the standard white but he insisted it had to be that...pink," Cole said and looked around nervously.

My face lost all its color. I could feel it. He knew I hated pink. That was Kyle's thing, not mine.

"He just happened to be here running an errand. He left work and came here to give something to Juke about the building permits he needed to take back to school," Cole pointed out noticing my confusion. Of course he wouldn't want to be here just for me. I had to stop thinking like this.

"Oh well...um," I stammered out. Damn head injuries were a bitch.

"We are going to head back, we just wanted to wait until you woke up to tell you they are going to release you tomorrow and London is going to come and pick you up in the morning. Make sure to remind her to scrub the memories clean before she leaves. We will clean up the apartment tonight for you. It should be ready for you by the morning. We will all be over tomorrow night and we need to go over what happened, try and figure out where to go from here." He must have seen something in my face that betrayed how much I did not want to talk about it.

"No arguments Ryann, you will talk to us about this," Cole said firmly. I didn't say anything. They were being generous. I knew they were giving me time to sort out what had happened, London wouldn't pry too much so I would have some time.

Cole bent down and kissed my forehead as Juke squeezed my hand. They walked out the door and left me staring at the ceiling. Where was that damn call nurse button? I needed to take advantage of this while I can. I was going to max out on the good stuff as long as I could.

I woke up a while later, noticing the tray for my dinner was sitting on the stand next to my hospital bed. I must have slept through a good portion of the day. My arm was starting to feel better, and my face no longer felt like it was trying to split in two.

"Hey," I heard someone say to my left. Ari was sitting in the chair by the far window. He was reading the paper again, sitting as casually as he did at the café.

"Only the elderly read the paper anymore Ari," I told him, attempting a smile. It made my lip hurt too much so I stopped midway. His eyes narrowed and he dug around his pocket and produced a tube of Chap Stick. He put some on the tip of his finger and he swiped it gently over my cut lip, then repeating it on the rest of my mouth.

"There," he said to me. He placed the Chap Stick on the table next to my tray. "I'll leave this here. Keep putting it on, it will help."

"Thanks," I told him. He was still sitting on the edge of my bed next to my hip. "You have much practice with this kind of medicine?" I asked curious about his life.

"Yeah I'm the youngest of four boys. I have had my fair share of bloody lips and I've given my fair share of bloody lips, keeping it moist is the best thing." He had a boyish smile. I hoped I wasn't staring at him. He was so clean and so bright in my dirty mixed up world I was starting to worry he wasn't real.

I reached up and ran my hand on the side of his face, feeling the light stubble on my hand. I closed my eyes and took in his scent. It smelled like a mix of mint and spices, almost perfectly male. He looked as surprised as I was that I touched him.

"I am on some very strong morphine Ari, I just needed to make sure you weren't a figment of my imagination."

"And you would choose me as your fantasy? That means so much to me Ryann. I've always wanted to be the star of someone's morphine trip," he said sarcastically, shooting me another great smile. I don't think I had seen someone smile as much.

"Who told you I was here?" I asked him, trying to shift the conversation to more business. I needed to keep this professional, if that was possible with him.

"Cole called to change the time we were going to meet tonight, and he told me what happened. I asked him where you were and I came as soon as I could."

I was confused why he cared that much. I was confused why I was so happy he cared that much. It was making my head hurt again.

"I'm sure you would be mad if the subject of your case died because she let some moron beat her to death," I said with a snort thinking of what I almost did. It just came out, I didn't mean to tell him it like that. He was sharp as a tack though because he caught it right away. Couldn't they hire an idiot?

"You let him do this to you?!" It came out at an almost yell. Enough to get a nurse into the room to see what was going on. It took me a couple of minutes to explain there was no need for alarm and get her to leave.

"Close the door Ari," I told him. When it was safe I continued.

"Yes, I think he was sent to test me out. I think he wanted to see where I was at physically. I had to take it, otherwise they would find out things that are best kept hidden for now. Just trust me on this one Ari. Please." He looked really pissed at me for doing something like this but he grabbed my hand.

"I will trust you for now but another attack and I'll have to tell them. I have to keep you safe Ryann, and if this guy thinks he's going to try this again he really is a moron," he told me, with a vow of retribution in his eyes, and I believed him.

"Anything else you want to tell me? And before you say it, of course I won't tell anyone." I smiled back at him and my lip felt much better.

"I know, the only thing I'm worried about is if he came to see if anyone was with me. Why would they send someone so powerful to beat up a weakling? What if he was scouting to see who was helping me? Thank gods no one was there, I may have let him do some of this but I'm not sure if I wasn't holding back how I would look. He was really powerful Ari, it might not have mattered," I told him honestly. This was my biggest fear come to life. That I couldn't protect my friends if my life blew back on them.

"I think it was probably a combination if you want the truth. It makes sense and it doesn't at the same time. Even if you are right, I think he was just there to test you mostly. For what reason I'm not sure but it's not good, either way," he said with a sad seriousness that seemed to be a side of effect of my life.

My eyes were starting to feel heavy. These drugs were kicking my butt.

"I'll let you get some sleep," Ari said as he was standing. He was sitting next to me in the bed. It felt so normal to be near him, so right.

"Thanks Ari, I'll see you tonight." I grabbed his hand as he was turning away and gave it a squeeze. He kept turning and walked out of the room. The last thing I thought before I fell asleep was that I was glad he couldn't teleport so I could watch his ass as he walked away. Gods, morphine was great.

**Rodeo**

"So you don't think it was Cris that sent him?" London asked with an unbelieving look on her face.

We were seated the dining room table at the apartment I was squatting in. London was at the head of the table closest to the kitchen and I was propped up with pillows on the chair next to the wall, legs sprawled out on the chair next to me to keep my side from hurting too much. She was fussing over me and making me a pot of coffee. She then cleaned the kitchen, and made a late dinner for everyone that would be coming over soon. I wonder who got the job of cleaning up all the blood.

After picking me up that morning from the human hospital, she quickly teleported me back into the bedroom here so I could rest in bed for a while. I slept away most of the day. She didn't press me for information and it was a gift to get to enjoy her in silence. I wanted to lay in bed and try to piece together every last detail I could remember on my own. London insisted on helping give me a bath, and I told her that I would love that, if she promised not to cry when she saw what my body must look like.

With the work done here with the healers some of my bruises would look partially healed, making the colors of my attack range from the fresh deep blue and purple, to some sickly looking yellows and greens of the ones that were on their way out. The combination made it look worse than it really was.

I told her if she was getting too worked up I would make her leave. It worked and it kept her focused enough to bathe me. She had seen me naked more times than I could count, shifting shredded clothes sometimes, so it didn't bother either of us in the least.

She bathed me like I was a precious glass doll she was afraid of breaking. It was one of the most intimate moments of my life, and I was grateful she was there. She asked me to sing and I obliged. The acoustics of the tub amplified my voice nicely. I told her my version of thank you by singing her favorites, all the ones I sang to her as a kid. In the end, she managed not to get too upset and I felt clean again. Feeling clean after something like that worked better than any painkiller ever could. There was something about feeling clean that was important to healing.

Now I was looking forward to the task of meeting with everyone in a half hour. Everyone would coming after work so by the time they all got here it would be at least 7:30. Even Dominic would be coming by, a meeting which I needed like a hole in the head

"He is bringing by a human investigator that he has worked with in the past Ryann. Ari is highly regarded in the community so I know he had to be good to earn their respect," London told me. I pretended to know nothing about him.

I could see him making everyone feel at ease. There weren't many humans we trusted with our secrets. At least I had some time to prepare to see Dom, from what London said he wasn't coming until much later.

"I don't think it had anything to do with the Morning clan Lon. They don't want what I know to see the light of day, I'm not so sure why but to tell you the truth it doesn't really matter to me why." Cris had the perfect opportunity to scare me and he chose to leave me alone.

"I just have this feeling they were only here to test me. This wasn't a 'send a message' kind of attack. I think it really matters to whoever sent them that they confirmed I'm weak. That part worries me the most." I told her staring off into the distance.

"Well whoever did it is in for a world of hurt. The guys are so worked up about this I don't think you are going to be able to convince them to leave it alone. They want blood Ryann," she said looking just as worried as I did about this whole mess.

"The best thing we can do is leave it alone. We need it to look like it was just an attack on me for what happened in the past. Then we can go about discreetly finding information on this behind the scenes. I don't want to stir up too much at this point. If we make too much noise, we may find ourselves in more trouble than we want." I had to keep the boys from looking for this guy. They needed to think I was alone and weak, not with my own personal immortal guard.

"Then you need to make them listen to you Ry. You need to step up and take the lead on this," London told me looking a little green.

"You okay?" I asked as she ran to the bathroom. She had told me her morning sickness was more of a nighttime sickness so I didn't bother her too much. If she needed me she knew she could call for me. She came out a couple of minutes looking much better.

"That happen much?" I asked.

"Every night for the first couple of months but now that I am in my fourth month only every once in a while." She was smiling again, and I felt myself release a breath I wasn't aware I was holding.

"Nighttime sickness huh? Maybe you have some vamp in your lineage you didn't know about," I joked.

"Very funny. Not all of us can be super hybrids like you. Not that I envy your bloodlust, you couldn't pay me enough." She shuddered and looked a bit green again so I tried to ease it by changing the subject. Drinking blood could be ugly business, unless you craved it.

"Well at least my headache seems to have eased a bit," I told her swiping my hand down the back of her head. It wasn't that much better but compared to before I felt like a new woman.

"You were pretty loopy last night. When I was with you, there were times you were out and times when you were mumbling and even singing a bit. The moans were not my favorite part, but Cole said you got worse after Juke made me pop home." She still looked a bit put out about it too.

"What do you mean?" I remembered parts of what happened and I remembered everyone being there but the rest was a bit fuzzy.

"You remember Dominic being there right?" She asked hesitantly.

"Yeah I do and I remember him touching my face..." I trailed off because after that I can't remember what happened.

"Cole said you two had quite the moment. I think you should ask him about it. You were asking him something. I think he said it sounded like one of your songs you were speaking out loud to him."

"Yeah I'm sure it was just nonsense." I said with as much hope I could muster, knowing that with my luck I sang him a whole damn song.

Cole and Juke were the first to arrive. They grabbed the food and coffee and ate like they were starving. They didn't pay much attention to me and I knew they were trying to give me some space. It was nice to pretend for while we were just a group of friends hanging out.

"Mira and Dom should be here soon. Luca is bringing Ari in instead." Juke exchanged a glance with the others before returning to my face.

"That's great they could come," I said with a cheery tone, trying to ease their minds. I knew I looked nervous and I hoped they assumed it was because of Mira, but she was the least of my worries tonight.

I was a bit anxious to see Mira, but I was more nervous to see Luca. My friendship with him was a secret. He had so many contacts within the human realm that he was the only one who was able to seek out communication with me after everything happened and they exiled me. He was involved in the human military, joining the Marines shortly after everything that happened.

He spent the two years that I was stuck in prison in various training programs and boot camps, so we had no contact at all. The next couple years, he was oversees fighting some war with the humans and when his tour has over, and he came back to the states, he ended up spending every weekend of his leave trying to track me down.

To say I was surprised when he showed up at the shelter I was staying at would be the understatement of the century. He is the sole reason that I stopped living from shelter to shelter and decided to camp. He spent almost two weeks teaching me survival skills I had to put to the test not long after. He also got me into the detox program that helped me kick some of the serious stuff I was into at the time. He saved my life, without a doubt in my mind I would have OD'd long before now without his guidance.

We saw each other as frequently as we could, but when he was recruited by Juke to help out at the Academy, and when he signed to help out on another mission with the Marines, we didn't get to see each other as much. We had decided not to tell anyone about the time we shared. I didn't want him or me to get into trouble for the visits. He was my source of information on everyone, and I couldn't lose that link. I doubt I would have made it on the outside without him and the news he brought to me.

Outside of that, to say he was a good soldier would be a disservice to Luca. The Marines were a great fit. He always was fascinated with the military of the human plane. Growing up on the outside gave him a different perspective than the rest of us that were sheltered and grew up here. He felt like it was his duty to help the humans out, it was also the reason he didn't speak with his clan anymore. The rest of us respected the hell out of him for it, even if his family couldn't come to terms with him.

Besides being one of the most lethal vamps the Academy had ever seen, he was such a gentle giant of a man. He knew just what to say to diffuse a situation, and if that didn't work he could disarm you before you even saw it coming. He always put me at ease with his quiet and commanding authority, and thus he was always the one sent in to retrieve me if I got out of control.

Cole continued, "Luca is friends with the human and he was the one who suggested him. They served in the Marines together on the human plane."

Which explains why they trusted him then, and the haircut. It was easy to see Ari as a Marine, he would have made that uniform look great, I thought to myself inappropriately, shaking my head at my thoughts.

"I know, I talked with him briefly the other day on the phone." They looked surprised I actually went through with talking to him.

"I can't wait to see Luca, but did anyone tell him about what happened the other night?" I asked with marked seriousness. If he walked in and saw me like this he was going to go ape shit.

"I told him," Juke said. "But I don't know if it will help, you look that bad. I think London is going to have to repair a wall," he said with a nervous laugh glancing at the walls. I looked at him confused.

"He's going to put a hole through the wall big enough for all of us to walk through when he sees what happened to you," he explained. He wasn't being dramatic either. I never wanted to be on the bad side of Luca, he was one scary vampire when he was mad.

"I don't even think that time you tried your hand at bull riding compares to how your face looks now. Remember how hard you face planted into the dirt, I think your nose made a ninety degree turn in the middle. Even after we fixed it you still had dirt up your nose," Juke said, it was barely discernable through his laughter.

"I hit the saddle horn on the way down too you ass hole, it wasn't just from falling on the ground. I think that stupid cow hand didn't put the saddle on tight enough anyway. He was itching to see me fall. Rat bastard," I said under my breath.

I realized I was laughing then. Gods honest laughing at the memory of our stint in Texas. I couldn't even begin to tell you when the last time it was that I had laughed like that. Everyone was silent and staring at me. London had a stupid smile on her face the whole time. As with anything in my life, on cue the universe kicked me in the teeth as Mira and Dominic strolled into the now dead silent kitchen.

**Fairy Princess**

"Hey Ryann," Mira said walking towards me. She stopped when she got within a foot of the table realizing that getting up and hugging her would not be possible for me.

"Hey there Mira, I'm sorry I can't get up for a hug but next time I'll be there," I said with a smile. I had thought a lot about how I was going to react to Mira. It was complicated but at the end of the day, I couldn't begrudge Mira her happiness, and I wouldn't be a bitch to her just because of her relationship with Dominic. She was kind and sweet and was the type of person who you could always call upon for help. Everyone was looking at me like I had another head but I didn't care.

She wasn't the reason I was no longer mated to Dominic anymore. Being mad at her would be pointless. I wouldn't be throwing her a party any time soon, and I couldn't look at her for more than a minute without feeling like slicing my wrists, but I wasn't going to be mean. I would not be one of those women, that's what my mother would have done.

"Hey Ry," Dominic said with an easy smile and then kissed London's cheek as she handed him a mug of coffee.

"Luca called and said he had to talk to Ari about some things so he would teleport him in. They should be here any time now," Dominic said as he sat down at the table next to me. He flung his arm on the back of my chair and began chatting with Juke about building codes and the progress they were making on the new stables. How many times was this the normal before? How many times had we sat just like this? Now everything was different and the same all at once, which didn't help my headache any.

If Mira looked insulted we were sitting like this, she had a good way of hiding it. Maybe she had gave up on the idea of never seeing us together like we were. She knew how close we were even before we were mated. Half of this plane knew our history together.

I got up to use the restroom as I heard the back door open and Luca came strolling in. Almost seven feet tall and a wall of pure muscle, it was the kind of muscle you definitely had to work at, but also with a base that you could tell he was just born with.

He had wheat colored hair that he kept a bit long, mostly pulled into a ponytail at the base of his skull. I noticed his russet beard was bit longer now and it made him look older. He had on his fatigue bottoms and a gray T-shirt on top. He looked like he could be on the cover of some corny romance novel about a soldier's return home. He had ice blue eyes that were all knowing, and could stare right through you. He could walk into a room and scan it with complete recall on who was there, where they were standing, what they were doing. He missed nothing, especially not me.

He locked eyes with me and we gave each other a huge smile. The biggest smile I could manage with my jaw hurting so much, and I felt my bottom lip rip open again. Goddammit. He noticed me struggling to get free from the table.

"Who the fuck let her get up on her own. You ass holes," he muttered while stalking over to me. In the next instant he was holding me like a baby and peppering my head with kisses.

"Luca, you should at least pretend we haven't seen each other in seven years buddy. Could you either put me down or put me on the can? I have to pee something fierce," I whispered into his ear. When did I throw my hands around his neck? Am I crying? Aww hell, he better get me out of here soon before I completely blow my image as a badass.

"Sure thing you useless sack of potatoes. Who can't even go to the bathroom without having someone carrying her out like a gods damn fairy princess anyway?" He laughed and said this loud enough to cover my quiet sobs as he walked towards the bathroom. He held me on the toilet for a few minutes until I could control myself. When did I become such a cry baby? I was just so glad to see him, his presence in my life got me through some pretty awful shit.

"Do you need to feed? We can steal another minute in here if you want?" he asked me softly. I shook my head no, and then with a nod he left and closed the door. I knew he had questions about why I needed blood still but he to this day never pried me, not once.

I used the bathroom and when my hand hit the doorknob on the way out, the door flew open and Luca had me in his arms before I knew what was happening. He didn't say anything and I kissed his cheek just before we crossed the doorway into the kitchen. He put me back on the seat and everyone had the decency to pretend like I didn't almost meltdown at the sight of him.

Luca cleared his throat and motioned towards his friend to come over.

"Ryann this is Ari Johansson. I think you have talked on the phone already, right?" I nodded, trying to give him a smile that didn't convey we had seen each other before.

The man that I am sure was awkwardly sitting in the doorway came forward to meet me. This was hilarious. "Nice to finally meet you," he said as he reached to shake my hand. "I love the pink by the way," he said glancing towards my gaudy cast. He winked and then sat next to Luca at the table. I rolled my eyes at him. He's going to be trouble for me tonight if he didn't tone it down.

Cole interrupted our little introduction as the only voice of reason in the room.

"Ryan why don't you sketch out what happened. I want Ari to get what happened down in case we need to reference it later." Great, time to kill any good mood that was in the room.

I spent the next hour going over every detail of what I could remember happening. I only had to edit a few details. It was not pleasant for me and I'm sure my guests were not enjoying my little story time either.

"Cole, how did they get through the spells? It must have been someone pretty powerful to get past what we put on there," London chirped towards the end.

"That's what concerns me most. He must have cost a fortune to hire. Whoever set this up is no small timer," Dominic said.

"Now that we got Ryann's side of what happened, let's get down to business and leave the guessing to the professionals. Ari, I'm going to have Ryann come to your office on Monday morning to talk with you and hopefully you two can come up with a story of what really happened that night of the mission. We need a clear timeline. We need to be able to answer any question the tribunal might ask," Cole told us, I was so not looking forward to that but I nodded knowing it was a necessary evil.

"If you can work with that then Mira, the boys and I will be working on finding out who visited Ryann the other night," Dom said, his jaw was hard and I was surprised he could get any sound out between clenched teeth. London looked at me, cue the speech.

"Let me just say something and then you can decide what you want to do. Okay?" I asked the crowd. No one said a thing so I just kept on. "Great now I think the plan for Ari to focus on the hearing is great. We need someone to fill in some holes there. As far as going after the asshole who beat me up, I think the best idea for now would be to forget him." I explained my theory that they were just testing me to see what I could do now, and I could tell they agreed with me even if they didn't like it.

"I don't think you remember the state you were in when we found you. Your heart had slowed down so much I could barely hear it when I came in. Combine that with the smell of blood, and I thought I would be identifying your body, not calling in the troops to get you out of there," Juke said. I cringed at his recount of events. Maybe reasoning with them wasn't going to work on this occasion.

"I didn't mean for it to get that bad," I murmured to myself.

"You mean you let him do that to you?" London screeched at me pointing towards my face. She was looking horrified at the thought.

"I didn't say that. I just mean that I didn't give him all the information about where I'm at physically," I answered cryptically. I was hoping no one would press me further. "I did bite him though. It was the longest my fangs have been out in seven years. It felt amazing!" I said proud of myself. I didn't know a single vampire in exile that could do that with a chip in. I smiled again and only Luca, and even Ari, looked amused. The rest looked confused and Dominic looked like he just sucked on a lemon. You didn't think they came out at all did you Dom?

"If we can catch the S.O.B then we could trace it back to whoever sent him," Juke said trying so hard to justify going after him.

"We could also kick up more trouble than it's worth. Can we wait until my hearing is over and then you can go all go and avenge me?" I asked them. Hopefully by then I'll get this chip out and I can handle it myself. Revenge kills felt the best anyhow.

They shared looks that conveyed their unhappiness with this plan. "Please. I have a gut feeling if we let things lie then they will get bored and move on. They want me to be weak and humiliated so I'll just lie low enough to get through to the hearing. If everything goes well and the hearing goes in my favor then we can talk strategy. For now though I'm asking you to put it aside." I could see they all wanted to do what I asked, but it went against every instinct they had.

London decided to chime in. "I think we should listen to Ryann. She doesn't want you to forget about it, she just wants you to just hold off on doing something until after the hearing." She put her hand on her tiny bump giving 'the eyes' to Cole, and I knew we had won. He wouldn't go against her. How he ever said no to her at all was beyond me, not with her looking at him like that.

"Fine," he bit out. "But if anyone tries anything else I'm not backing down. I'll get the whole damn Elite involved."

"Thank you," I told him sincerely.

I happen to glance at Mira, who I had forgotten was even in the room at that point, and noticed she looked a little lost.

"How did you get your fangs to come out?" she asked in awe. I didn't detect any malice, so she must just be curious. To not answer would look suspicious but I had to be careful.

"In extreme situations I can push my residual magic a bit, being home helps too. The magic here is amplifying things, even so I can only go so far. I could hardly draw too much blood," I said lying a little. That last part was false. I could still feed and if I wanted to, I could do some damage. I never wanted to draw attention to myself before and I didn't trust Mira enough yet to give that information to her.

Everyone looked like they didn't know what to say, so I decided to end this party while the going was good.

"I'm exhausted, all those pain killers are doing a number on me. I'm going to bed and you are all welcome to stay until you talk everything else out. It was nice to meet you Ari, leave your office number by the phone and I'll call on Monday morning to set up a time to visit." He smiled, and I sent him a quick wink when no one was looking. I did a general wave to everyone and started to walk to the bedroom.

"Wait up Ryann," Dominic had said from behind me. I almost made it out without having to talk to him, damn.

I turned around and I was facing him in the hallway by the bathroom. I had turned around so quickly he was very close to me. We were standing too close to be considered appropriate but to hell with it. I was too damn tired right now to worry about everyone else.

"I just wanted to say I'm glad you are doing better. Luca forgot to mention he is going to be staying here until the hearing to make sure you are safe. Also, the council's ward witch is a real gem, she is going to stop by sometime over the weekend to reinforce the protection spells too," he said looking uncharacteristically nervous. He looked good tonight, I mused as I looked him over. He had on his work suit, it was black and tailored to perfection like all of his clothes. He had a human office and did his normal lawyer business when he wasn't doing things for the council. He looked older, more mature tonight, much more like a man than the Dom I remembered. It made me sad I missed when he had grown up into this person that stood before me.

"Earth to Ryann..." Dominic was saying.

"I'm sorry I was drifting off a bit there. Luca is more than welcome to stay. Thanks for arranging for the wards to be put back up. I really appreciate it. Congratulations on the council position too, I know your Dad would have been proud." He snickered at my last comment. It was more of an inside joke than anything else.

"My father was never capable of any emotion other than hate and you know it. He wouldn't have been proud, and if he was, he would never tell me so. But thank you for saying it," he said with a tentative smile. He was right, his father hated everyone with equal passion, well everyone except me. He hated me most of all.

"Is there something else Dominic, it is really good seeing you but I'm dead on my feet," I told him hoping he would let me go. I wanted to end the night without any bad news and I managed to make it through a whole conversation with him without acting like a lost little girl.

"Your father wants to see you," he said to me in a rush. Well there goes my night. Could I ever catch a break?

"I'm going to leave a number by the phone for his office line. He told me to tell you if you can't get a hold of him, to schedule a meeting with Kitty." Of course, Kitty was his secretary. I needed to make an appointment to see my own father.

"Thank you for passing that on," I said with unconcealed sarcasm turning towards the bedroom. I was done with this whole thing.

Dominic grabbed my hand to turn me around and ran his thumb over my knuckles. I jerked my hand away flexing it by my side. He had the smarts to act ashamed of doing it.

"I'm sorry Ry, I know you have so much on your plate but I couldn't refuse his request," he said with true regret in his eyes. I knew it wasn't his fault but I was so damn angry.

"Can't make the council mad now can we Dominic, gods forbid someone tells my father no. I should feel honored you told them you would be seeing me at all. You really have grown up," I said bitterly to him. He was seething at my comment. I was seething at my comment. This was a bad combo, when we fought like this, things ended up broken.

"Still stuck on that are you now? You never did know when to give up. It made you a great fighter but not a great partner sometimes," he told me. I was dumbstruck, if he was going to take me to the plate I might as well swing for the fences.

"Is she a better partner Dominic?" I asked pointing towards the kitchen. It was a low blow but the frown on his face was worth it in that moment. It was then I should have realized then they were all silently listening, but I was too wrapped up in my own pain to notice.

"Tell me, did your father like Mira?" I asked him plowing on. He gave no response.

"I bet he loved her. All the 'yes sirs' and 'no sirs' she must have given him. The perfect little submissive shifter mate. She is so much like your mother, well she is nicer than your mother but that's not saying much is it?" I said to him, hating the way I sounded. He looked more hurt than mad now. Good. I had seven years of pain and hurt, it was someone else's turn.

"I can never take another mate and you know it so don't go there Ryann," he said quietly to me.

"You could if you denounced me, have it dissolved. You would be within your rights with everything I have done. Everyone wonders why you haven't done it already," I said with venom. I couldn't stop myself.

"If they reverse their findings I will never be able to anyway. Besides, the mating laws are so antiquated almost no one adheres to them nowadays. So who cares what I do? Maybe I don't want to be mated again." He sounded like a petulant child. What a pair we made right now. I would regret this whole conversation tomorrow I'm sure but I had to say these things. I had to relieve some of this pressure in my chest.

"I'm sure Mira cares, or maybe she likes the unavailable types. Maybe she is content being someone's second choice," I spouted, knowing full well I sounded like a jealous whore. I was an awful, awful person.

"Whoever you end up with will be your what, two hundredth choice? How many people have you managed to sleep with now Ryann? You sure have been busy while you have been gone. So busy you have run out of men so you moved on to succubus?" he asked with a disgusted look. I could tell by the look on his face he knew he went too far but I was asking for it. I deserved it after what I said about Mira.

"Who told you about Leah?" I asked sticking my chin up. "It doesn't matter now, I didn't just sleep with her if that's what you were insinuating." He looked confused.

"I fed from her you big dumb idiot," I told him, not really disclosing the whole truth. We did a bit more but he didn't deserve to know it. Demon blood always brought out the worst in me. That's why Jason was there. Every drink needed a chaser. He looked like he was about to rip into me again so I cut him off.

"You want to go over every rumor going around about me lets go. Most are lies but a few of them I can remember that were true. How about when I allegedly slept with that Elite scout they sent out when my chip was reading off the charts? That one was true but in defense he was really good looking, and was willing to turn the other cheek about me almost killing a Boy Scout leader who wandered into my territory." He shot me a look of pure horror, but I kept going.

"Don't look at me like that Dom, it was during a particularly difficult summer. Since you want to know, most of the stories about Swift are true, he was cruel but he served his purpose for me," knowing he would feel the most betrayed about him.

"And what was that Ryann? Was he that good in bed?" Oh no he didn't.

"For protection you asshole. Who else was going to protect me when I had people attacking me daily on the outside? Everyone wanted a piece of me, every rogue idiot with an idea came for me, every person I helped to capture and exile came at me. I was getting beat up every fucking day Dom. I had to kill almost fifty before they slowed down. Who was going to help me? Where were you? Where did you all go?" I screamed out holding my hands wide.

"You didn't have to be with him for two years Ryann. Was it true you were going to get married?" he asked and I could smell the musk and fur that was threatening to shift his body into his beast. He was really going there with me tonight. This was a disaster, a complete and total wreck.

"I thought about it Dom, for about a half a second and then I pulled a stunt so offensive he had to let me go. You think I would marry Swift? Well, he beat me within an inch of my life but he let me go." He didn't say anything. I kept going because I was doing so well.

"You want to dig up every skeleton? Okay, how about the time I spent a month going through Luca's entire battalion, I was just doing my patriotic duty don't you think? I'm sure you missed that one when you were gathering information on my love life," I told him so quickly I almost didn't catch what I admitted to them. Dom growled low in his throat. Oh shit.

**Drumming Song**

"You saw Luca while you were gone? He didn't say anything to any of us about it," he said, his face looking red. His hands were starting to shake and when they stopped they were beginning to shift. This was not good.

"Luca found me at a homeless shelter. He took the time to hunt me down. He is the only reason I survived." I needed him to get this. I wasn't sure why, but I needed him desperately to get what I was saying, to understand his part in helping me.

"He was there for me after I was healing from leaving Swift's gang. He's the only reason Swift was motivated enough to let his favorite girl go. He's the only reason I didn't overdose out there. He was keeping me together, so don't you dare be mad at him for not ruining it by telling everyone and getting caught. He saved my fucking life. While you were here, playing house and council, I was trying to survive out there. Not thrive, there is a difference. I could only survive out there, and that is not living. I barely even did that," I told him. He had no response. When I saw his eyes flash pity and stare at his shoes. I lost it.

"Look at me Dominic!" I yelled at him. "You want to have this out, and have me bear my sins to you, you can have the decency to look at me when you do it." My chip was burning in my arm. I needed to get it under control.

"I never forgot where you were, not for a second." Dominic whispered.

"I listened to every ridiculous story in the hopes I was getting even a small bit of information about you out of it. It didn't work most of the time, since most of the stories were impossible, but for a minute I didn't worry if you were dead or not. I didn't physically come to you but I didn't forget you Ryann. None of us did." He said as he turned to leave. How could he deliver that speech and then just leave me like that? He didn't get to walk away anymore, he was always walking away from me, leaving me. I saw red and lost myself, the events of the week culminating in a storm under my skin.

I pulled the knife out of the leg holster and moved faster than I thought I was capable of considering I was still messed up. I had him on the ground, my leg pinning his dominant hand and holding his other arm down with my good hand. I had the knife in my broken hand and held it to his throat. He looked scared of me. He looked like he was looking at a stranger. I don't think he was far off, I was feral rage in the flesh and I had no clue how I got there.

My chest was heaving up and down like I had run a marathon, and I knew my eyes were blood red. My tiny pathetic excuse for fangs came out and I moaned again, dropping my head back for a second to scent the air, feeling alive. I look down and saw the muscular column of throat in front of me. I was mesmerized by the pulse in his neck all of a sudden. The rhythmic pumping was calling to me. A long unused reflex that was calling every cell in my body to feed. Every pump was echoing in my brain, feed...feed...drain. I leaned in with the knife firmly in place and licked his artery. I remember having bloodlust before but this was something more powerful, more primal. This was immortality at work.

I licked up the vein again and kissed him. It was deep. It was lust of a different kind. He tasted better than any drug I had ever taken. He tasted like wild wine and the images of us being intimate flooded my mind. I could hear shuffling behind me as everyone ran into the room.

"Ryann baby, I need you to look at me," I heard someone say. Where was that voice coming from? It sounded so familiar.

"Baby, look at my eyes please. I know you can hear me, you just need to listen to me and I'll bring you out of this. Ignore everything else and look in my eyes baby. Please," the voice asked me. It was Dominic, I noted to myself. He was speaking in such a calm voice. It was so nice, I wanted him to keep talking.

"I like your voice Dominic, I always have. Keep talking to me. Tell me a story." I sounded breathy. Like one of those phone sex operators. I was still staring at his neck but his voice was reaching me, pulling my attention away.

"I'll tell you a story about a boy, who wasn't supposed to love this girl, but he couldn't help it. She was life itself, so bright, so fun, so wonderfully alive. She was also protective, loyal, and the fiercest fighter he have ever seen. She was stubborn and unwilling to comprise with what she wanted from life, what she wanted from him, what she wanted from anyone.

First she was the boy's best friend, then his lover, and then his leader. Sometimes all three at the same time. He needed her like he needed his beast. He chose her, and his beast chose her in turn. He needed her like he needed nothing else. Her love was like a drumming noise inside his head beating his body to its rhythm, showing him love and finally giving him peace." I felt someone touching my face, stoking my thigh. Where did his voice go?

"Then something happened and it took parts of her away. It took away her love for life. It took away the fighter. It made her compromise with what she wanted. It took away his friend, then it took away his lover, and then it took away his leader, and then it took away his baby. The guilt she carried, took away the rest.

The worst part was that all of her friends let her, but worst of all, he let her. It took away the drum that beat in her head, but they never took away the drum that beats in his. It's still there. Can you feel it Ryann, can you hear it baby?" he asked me. I closed my eyes and pressed my hand to his beautiful pumping heart to hear the beating of the drum and relaxed an inch from his neck when I heard something. Before I knew it, someone had hit me and I was flying backwards into darkness my eyes still locked on his.

"Get away from her man. I had it under control her eyes weren't even red anymore," I told Luca who was holding Ryann down on the ground. She was lying stiff as a board. She wasn't saying anything, she was just letting Luca hold her down. She had never looked more defeated than in that moment that I had ever seen her look.

"She did not have it under control Dominic. She was losing it. Look, the chip burned a spot on her skin it was so hot. We will be lucky if the Guard isn't called for this." He took a breath and continued, this time looking at me, "I'm a vampire, and I think I know what it looks like before one of us goes crazy with bloodlust. I have never seen bloodlust that bad, she isn't even supposed to be feeling the draw to feed AT ALL! If she didn't have that chip in you would be drained brother, along with every person in this room. She is the strongest vampire I have ever seen. She is the strongest shape shifter I have ever seen. I have never in the all the years in this skin seen anything scarier than what she just did to you.

"I have never seen someone move that fast. Never. She is broken and bruised and SHE HAS A CHIP IN FOR FUCKS SAKE!" he said screaming at us, he clearly wanted our attention. In truth, he was being completely serious. He wasn't being dramatic in the least in describing her abilities. She could tear each of us to shreds.

I looked at her again and she had popped up and was feeding from Luca's neck. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, his hands were under her butt holding her back and keeping her close at the same time. But she was looking at me. Her ruby eyes were swirling greenish black and boring right into mine. I knew she was trying to scare me off but it wasn't working.

She looked magnificent. She looked like a demon fire warrior who was sent to burn me up. It was a wrong thought, I knew it. I should not have been thinking anything positive about this situation. It was fucked up, but damn did she look like a revelation. If I stayed here any longer I would do something incredibly stupid like kiss her or take her on this floor, audience or Mira be damned.

I would rip out her chip with my teeth, and have her feed from me. We would bathe in blood as beasts and mate until the sun was gone from this earth. Yeah blood orgies usually mean it's time to go.

I turned around to walk towards the kitchen. If I did it quick enough I could make it out the door. I passed a crying London in the arms of Cole who looked like he could throw up at any moment. I saw Juke and Ari were watching, a peculiar look on the human's face. He should be running for the hills, but he was transfixed at the sight of her. I couldn't fault his taste, she had that effect on people. They were drawn to her before they even knew what was happening. He might become a problem for me if he was going to be around her to help with the hearing for too long.

I turned the corner into the kitchen and found Mira. Sweet gods, I forgot she was here. I am really a winner today. She looked pale, considering she had a wonderful Brazilian tan and worked outside, that was saying something. She held up her hand when I started to speak.

"Let me go, okay Dominic. I know you aren't anywhere close to being mated to me before this, but that, that story...that story broke my heart. It broke mine and it broke for yours too. You think someone will tell a story like that about me someday?" she asked, looking tired.

"I hope so," I said as she stood. I reached out for her elbow to steady her.

"Let me go Dom, just let me go." She said it like a prayer. If I heard what had happened tonight, I would be saying the same thing. Well, I would be throwing some punches too but I would come to the same conclusion.

"Call me if you want to talk okay?" I asked her. She was great and I wasn't ready to end it, but this situation was so screwed up I needed to give her what she wanted.

"You too Dom, you take care," she said touching my arm and then dematerializing right from the kitchen. I walked two steps to the stoop and I got out of there before I did something stupid, again.

**The Guard**

"He's gone Ry," Luca said as he placed me in a chair at the kitchen dinette and poured me a glass of water. I shoved it away and told him to grab the Jack out of the cabinet. I didn't even need a glass.

We all sat staring off into space. No one wanted to be the one to bring up what just happened. I was numb, and I'm sure they were struggling for something encouraging to say.

"Mira?" I asked.

"She left right before him. You are going to need to call and explain yourself to her tomorrow. A good apology wouldn't hurt either," London said. She put a hand up to my head and murmured some incantations that probably wouldn't work anyway. It didn't bother me. She could do whatever she wants as long as she kept petting my head.

I took several shots, playing with the rim of the bottle in a slow motion. London tried to take the bottle and I growled. She, and everyone else, left me alone after that. I really fucked everything up tonight. I placed my head on the table and banged it a few times. I felt a bit of pain and it sharpened my numb mind. When I thought of what else I would probably have to deal with, I raised my head and took a breath.

"I need everyone to know that I probably am going to get called in by the Guard. The chip will have sent on the information of my levels and they will call. I can bluff my way out since I haven't had an incident in a while, but it would be better if just Juke, Ari, and Luca were here. The story I would tell would make more sense." I didn't want to say it. I could sense London catch my meaning, Juke started to chuckle next to me, failing to cover it up with a cough.

They said goodnight and popped out from the kitchen with a promise to call in the morning. No one wanted to talk about it and I was thankful for once they didn't push me.

I looked at Luca, and he understood what I was saying, but Ari looked confused, tired, and ready to be ported right of this realm for a good long time. I turned and faced Ari, looking into his kind face, and thought I owed him an explanation, considering I almost killed him tonight.

Juke stood up and put my feet in his lap. He started rubbing them, and I knew he was doing it so I would relax a bit while talking about my background.

"How much do you know about us Ari? Did Luca fill you in enough that you can keep up if I start talking about my parentage? It will help you understand what happened to me tonight, and you can decide from there if I am something you want to hitch your wagon to." I looked him right in the eyes as I said it, too tired to be shameful about what happened.

"Appreciated, yeah I know the basic facts but I will stop you if I need you to clarify something." Ari said meeting my stare and smiling back to me. Gods, I was in serious trouble with him.

"There are many magical creatures that live in our community, choosing to carve out their existence in the magical realm. These are pockets of concentrated magic, allowing us to live within this world but on a separate plane. Each pocket of magic is different, but the vast majority of communities are comprised of shape shifters, vampires, witches, warlocks, demons, angels, and the fae. There are some variations across the globe, but those are the ones that choose to live together the most," I told him, trying to go back to the beginning to give him a broader picture.

"But there are more?" Ari asked looking interested.

"Oh yeah. There are some more ancient magics that like to live independently. The giants are very small in number, and they choose to live in their own pockets. No one has seen one in centuries, though there is always the occasional rumor of a sighting. There are some other atypical shape shifters, like the centaurs, who are also more self-sufficient. Their numbers are more substantial, but they mainly keep to themselves since they can only procreate with one another. They can be an ally though if called upon, for the right price." Ari made no move for me to stop, or to ask a question, so I continued on.

"In the middle east there have been reports of stranger magics, such as manifestations of the earlier Egyptian mythos and the like. The African planes have other such creatures, they are very old and very strange. They are as welcoming as they are odd, you never quite know what you are going to get with them. They can always be counted on to help, but they are unpredictable when it comes to power." I looked to Ari, but he seemed to be more interested than overwhelmed.

"The dragons of eastern Europe and Iceland are recluses. There hasn't been a sighting of one in over five hundred years so no one knows how sentient they are or where their allegiances would lie if awoken. We know the least about them in truth." I told him, there was much more to that story, but it was best kept aside for the purposes of this explanation.

"By in large we all co-exist out of necessity. We have more strength in numbers and we have fought too many wars with the humans in the past not to be pragmatic about banding together defensively. Though we thrive in these communities, despite small disruptions, there are some problems. I do not think it was ever naturally intended for all of our species to live in the same area, but modern expansion is requiring it. Because of the close proximity, there have been both good and bad implications.

"Vampires and shape shifters have the most trouble with each other, and we do not tend to get along very well. The natural temperaments of each race are usually at odds with one another. They are what you would call natural enemies, the cat and the mouse type of stereotypes. Most get along just fine in a general social context, but in the confines of an intimate relationship, such as a mating, they usually struggle with keeping it afloat.

"Because of this, there are not many matings that include a vamp and a shifter. It's not unheard of, but it is rare, I'd venture one in a hundred. A vamp and specifically a werewolf mating, is ten times as rare. Infertility in these couples is high, and the odds of a viable offspring coming from said matings are slim to none. The fetus usually does not survive, and if it does it has problems with control. Usually they succumb to bloodlust or struggle with their beast at a very early age and have to be killed. It should come as no surprise, in light of what happened tonight, that I am such a child.

"My mother was a vampire named Aurielle Ambienne, from one of the first lines of vampiric existence on this planet. She was cold, vicious, and unfeeling. My father, Marcus Stone, is from the oldest line of shape shifters known to have existed on any planet, on any plane. He is a werewolf and he is cold, vicious, and vengeful. I am Ryann Aurielle Stone and obviously I have control issues. A prime example of what I am capable of would be what happened to me tonight with Dominic," I said plainly, knowing he needed to know the truth about me. The funny thing was, that would be putting it mildly.

"How did they managed to mate?" Ari asked. I knew what he was thinking, two of the most powerful lines of magic in existence would be more likely to be killing each other, not sleeping with each other and mating.

"There is much debate about that one," I told him smiling, thinking of all the late night drunken debates we all got into about why. "They were still mated when my mother died, so all in all they were mated for almost three hundred years before I came along. That is too long a time in my opinion for there not be some feelings in the in the mix. By feelings I mean mild indifference, I am still not sure either of them is capable of love in any form, so it is more of a gut feeling than anything.

"My logical side says I was the product of centuries of trying to conceive a child. Most hybrids are only children because there are infertility issues with couples that are vampires and shape shifters. What makes my family even more of an oddity is that I had a sister, and an older one at that." The past tense of the phrase sounded wrong on my lips, but it didn't leave me with any kind of sadness.

"Kyle was older than me by twenty years. Since we stop aging at around twenty five or thirty, most humans would never be able to tell we are so far apart. But we looked about as opposite as two people could be while still looking somewhat related. She had light golden hair, much like my father, and her face was just like my mother's. She had translucent green eyes, and was much taller than me, I always envied her height and grace. We looked like cousins more than siblings truthfully. She was a pure vampire, like my mother, but thankfully did not inherit her entire personality. She was a bit cold but she could be very gentle when she wanted to be, I have some memories when I was little and she would look out for me.

"Outside of that, she was never an amazing fighter, her true strength lied in her strategy. She had a brilliant mind for battle and how to analyze her opponents, I think she spent more time playing chess than anything else growing up. While we were not close as sisters, I trusted her in combat. She was part of my team from the beginning by my own insistence, I felt like she was always an asset to my missions." I trusted her too much apparently, barely hiding the grimace on my face when I brought her up in the context.

"It is clear in my mind when Kyle showed signs of being purely vampire, they decided to try for me. They had heard the stories about true hybrid children and the power they wielded if the blood was mixed a specific way. I am not sure if they did it to boost their family name, or to create a super weapon to take on other clans. Many have guessed, but I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. My parents were nothing if not power hungry. They lucked out and got the child they were hoping for the second try, a hybrid like no one had ever seen before," I said with a sarcastic laugh, knowing how much they resented this choice.

"However, I also came with a large amount of issues. I can be impulsive, territorial, stubborn, aggressive, and confrontational on a good day. On a bad day, I can't distinguish friend from foe, one read through the reports from the night at the sprit house should clue you in on the kind of destruction I can put out."

"Aside from what may have aided you, were those problems common for you?" Ari asked, scribbling furiously on his legal pad to keep up with the information.

"Since I was old enough to control my magic, I've had to work hard to control it. In essence, my control problems stem from the fact that I share dominant magics. If two people mate with different magical lines, say a witch and vampire, or a demon and a shape shifter, and they have children, the offspring will have one dominant magic. Kyle is an example one, she was purely vampire like my mother, inheriting nothing from my werewolf father. Very rarely a child will share dominance, and those that do usually results in a very weak child, magically. Neither side of the magics gain much power, both sides barely showing in the child.

"Not me though, I have double the power, full strength in both my vampire and beast forms. For me, I can call up different lines of magic to suit the setting. I can turn complete vampire or complete wolf seamlessly, depending on what would be most beneficial. I could at one point meld the two, but it is harder to control so I tend to use it as a last resort, a very effective last resort. When I do this, it is very hard to bring me back out.

"I am the only known case of that kind of shared dominance in existence at his point. This makes me lethal to our enemies but sometimes makes me lethal to those around me, as you saw first hand tonight." I saw Luca's jaw get tight when I said that last part.

"But your parents didn't stop with Kyle so do you think that affected how she saw herself? Do you think she was jealous of you?" Ari asked. He had his legal pad out and his tape recorder was on the table. Maybe I could skip the Monday meeting now.

"Ease up a bit Ari, it's been a long night," Juke said cautiously, he pulled me onto his lap, and saying some incantations over my broken arm. It was throbbing and whatever he was saying was helping so I rested my head in the crook of his shoulder and closed my eyes as he rubbed my back. How I survived in exile without his touch, as well as the rest, was a mystery to me now.

"It's okay J, I would rather him know what he is getting into," I said looking to Ari. He looked strong and calm, he looked interested instead of afraid. I continued, using his strength to bolster my own.

"I think they were intentionally trying to create me and my powers, yes. Perhaps that is why Kyle...why she harbored such feelings about me. I think my mother was behind some of the hatred she felt. She was always putting ideas in our heads to turn us on each other, she told me once she thought she was making us tougher.

"Looking back, I do think she was jealous, though she never told me so. The funny part was she was the one everyone loved, my parents went out of their way to praise her over me. She was showered with gifts and attention from everyone. She was kind and thoughtful, well for my family anyway. For a vampire to be so cool and passive is a rarity, she had men hanging all over her, most mature vampire females can be quite scary and dominating. She never lacked for friends, which is the part that confuses me the most," I told him. It was the main reason why my story made no sense before, she had almost no motive.

Juke was holding me now, rubbing his arms over my legs and humming a tune into my ear. I could tell that Ari was getting confused about all the truths and affection that we being thrown around tonight. I guess you had to understand our dynamic to get why we acted the way we did with each other. My head was starting to hurt again, I needed to save talking about Kyle more in private, when my energy level was higher than its current non-existent level. I had to tell Ari some of the truth in private. I tried to close it up to get to the end.

"I believe part of what happened that mission was because of my poor control and impulse. Part of it was outside forces, including what Kyle claimed she did, but all of what happened, happened on my mission with my crew and on my watch. It was my responsibility to keep them safe and I failed, and that is a reality that no one can ease from my mind. They are my family, as close to me as any blood relation, as any oath can give us. They are a part of me, their blood flows through my own. I attacked my own family, and I will live through the scars of that until I cease to exist, that is a reality that will forever keep me up late at night.

"It will be up to you to piece together what you can from what Kyle said she did, but make no mistake Ari, this was my fuck up. If the tribunal sees it more leniently I will not argue with them, I want to be free of them more than I want to be right. I want this chip out, and I want to be whole again.

"That said, I am still not sure if I will return here. I am still not sure I am stable enough to return here and tonight is a prime example of it, not to mention what I did to London the other morning," I said the last part to Luca mostly.

"We spent ten years fighting together, one night does not erase it all away. You have helped to save many lives, prevent many wars. How many missions did we go on where we helped fight the rogues, helped free imprisoned slaves, helped to rescue those in danger? How many times did you jump into the fire to save my ass?" Luca countered, clearly not liking the tone I was taking with myself.

"I am a savior just as much as I am a destroyer Luca. I ruin sometimes as much as I help. I'm sure Cole feels how I ruined him every day. He has a permanent limp, one glass eye, and bullets still lodged in his shoulder from my gun. That's not to mention the claw marks that stain Juke, or the chunk of flesh I took out of Dom's leg, like a fucking dog. What would they say?" It was a rhetorical question, none of them would ever blame me.

Before he could answer I decided to shut him up. "How about my baby Luca. How about my baby that will never be born because of what that rogue did to my stomach," I whispered in an anguished tone, bringing up the one thing that would stop his comebacks.

Both men looked away from my eyes and Juke's arm got tighter around my shoulders. It was Luca who reached across the table and grabbed my hand.

"You know I'm sorry for your loss Ryann, but you are stronger than you think. What you can do while being chipped is amazing. What you did tonight was a mistake, but what you are capable of is just as important. I have seen you fight through everything this world has put in front of you. You used to have us to back you up, and then you decided you didn't deserve our help anymore. Well now you have us, and we aren't going anywhere. We will fight this with you, regardless if you want our help or not. When something else comes to stand in your way, we will fight that too. And when you find you don't think you can control yourself, when you don't think you can come home, I will drag you back," he told me. It was a vow, I could see it in his eyes and it made the tears I had held back cascade down my cheeks to puddle in the crook of Juke's elbow.

"You can count me at your back as well." Ari said with a quiet voice, like a command, calling me back from my sadness and into his light.

"I'm so glad you said that Ari because I'm going to ask you a favor," I said as I drank the last of the bottle in front of me. Wow that was fast, must be a record even for me. Juke released me and heading back towards the bedroom with Luca giving me some privacy with Ari.

"The guard is like the local community police force, the chip that they placed in my arm both suppresses my magic so I cannot change, and reports the levels of the magic naturally in my system. If it gets too high it will send a signal to the local guard or Elite depending on the area. With everything that happened tonight, they will more than likely come here and I need to have a good reason for being all hyped up," I said as I fidgeted with the tablecloth by my good hand. Please get this Ari so I don't have to say it out loud, I kept saying to myself.

"I get it," he said the barest hint of a blush coming on. I don't think anyone is more embarrassed than me buddy, but he gave it the old college try.

"We just need to be seen in the same bed should they make a little visit. All of us." It was my turn to be a little red. This was going to be beyond awkward, it was like a bad joke. A vampire, a demon, a hybrid and a human get into a bed…

"I understand, I can help but why aren't those two enough," he asked pointing towards their retreating back. I could hear them chuckling as they made their way towards the bedroom, bastards.

"The levels I was at would indicated more than what I would normally do, and I have a tendency to take humans to my bed, and perhaps I have an affinity towards multiples," I said to the floor feeling my face light up red. My gods, this is a bit humiliating even for me. I was so hoping there was another bottle of Jack stashed somewhere here.

He gestured with his hand and followed me back to the bedroom. I stopped and showed him where the restroom was and while he was using it I searched the closet in the other room for an extra blanket in case he wanted to sleep on the floor. I was lucky he was staying at all. I wonder if Luca had hired a psycho after all, no one in their right mind would want to be around after seeing what I did tonight.

I returned to the kitchen, found some SoCo in the back of one of the cabinets and took a couple more shots. My teeth were numb and my tongue felt heavy in my dry mouth. I pulled my weed from under the sink and rolled up a joint on the counter. It was so thick I thought the paper was going to rip but it held, and I lit it as soon as the paper dried. Ari came into the kitchen then, I'll give him credit he didn't even raise an eyebrow at what was going on.

"I can share," I said holding out my joint.

"No thanks, I have to go into the office tomorrow," he told me back. I shrugged, and we looked at each other for a few more seconds, he watched with marked interested as I lit my joint and took a big pull.

In the next moment, he was walking towards where I was leaning against the counter, straight on. Is he coming on to me? He must he certifiable, I thought as he stopped right in front of me. I felt his eyes looking over the features of my face, searching for what I wasn't sure of yet. He started to lean in, and I was watching him in slow motion as he got closer. When I was about to do something really stupid, like close my eyes and lean in to kiss him, he moved his head around me and reached around to grab the bottle of SoCo that was on the counter. He smiled and moved to the other counter in the kitchen as he poured himself a shot. _Psych._

"Are you sleeping with Luca?" Ari asked looking collected as he threw back a shot. It didn't seem hostile, but underneath it all was a tone that wasn't too happy.

"Do you mean having sex with?" I asked, needing to clarify. We all slept together often, often without any kind of contact at all.

"Of course. I know you are all very affectionate with one another. I think touch is a trigger for you to calm down," he said. Damn he was perceptive, most people didn't get me.

"No we are not having sex right now," I said obviously trying to be careful how I worded things with Luca. It was complicated but I was going to leave it at that for now."You are right though, we all like physical contact. In the human plane we have to be careful, they are not like to the extent that we are. Touch is a trigger for me in particular, it is calming and my beast likes it. Like tonight when I fed from Luca and satisfied my vampire, I like to be close with someone. It doesn't have to be of a sexual nature, but it often leads to that. Wolves crave attention that way, we are very social creatures," I told him feeling the heat fill my cheeks despite myself. Sometimes my wolf like it a little too much for my comfort. It went hand in hand with my control issues. At the moment it was bothersome, because it was also screwing with my plan to keep everyone away.

The boys walked into the kitchen then, shirtless, looking like a walking advertisement for underwear. If they weren't so close to me I should be excited about sleeping with all of them but we had all done this so many times it wasn't abnormal or strange for us. We were affectionate and growing up, and we were never shy about it. When your own parents never touch you, physical comfort from your friends becomes a necessity.

I gave them what they needed and they gave me what I needed. To his credit, Ari looked like he was taking it in stride.

"I'm going to give Ari the option of sleeping on the floor," I said looking to him.

"It's okay I don't mind, I hate sleeping on the floor anyway," he said shrugging as he ran a hand over the back of his head and yawned.

"Juke and I can sleep head to foot on one side. I'll give you the empty bed on the other side of Ryann," Luca said winking and clapping Ari on the shoulder as he grabbed a beer from the fridge. It was a gift for Luca to give him that side, which was always a coveted spot when we all had to share the same space.

Of course the guys were the first to fall asleep. I was tossing and turning, unable to find a position that didn't hurt something on me. I just couldn't get comfortable. I turned at looked at Ari who was fast asleep too. He looked so young and peaceful, I needed to back it up with him a bit, leave him alone as much as I could. He didn't need to add my drama into his life. He was so full of life and the thought of my world touching him made me feel sick. I ran a hand over his cheek and jaw, feeling the hard and steady lines under my fingers, comforted by his presence. His eyes peeked open, yawing and covering my hand with his own.

"What's going on gorgeous, go to bed," he said closing his eyes slowing and forcing them open to check my face out.

"I'm releasing you from your contract," I told him running my hand over his face, unable to stop touching him. "It's too dangerous for you," I added in, closing my own eyes at the thought of him getting hurt in all this.

"I don't have a contract, but even if I did I wouldn't listen to you. You're worth it," he told me, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind my ear.

"I'm not," I said honestly back to him, wondering what he saw in me that I was unable to. His response wasn't verbal, he just threw and arm over my side to guide me over, flipping my back to his front. He pulled me to him, throwing his arm tight around me and resting his head behind my own.

"Sleep, I have you now Ryann," Ari said, kissing my head and settling in behind me. He was so large, and I was so small, yet we fit with one another. I could feel my hair blow out as he took a deep breath, and the feel of his strong body behind me settled my mind. I feel asleep to the feel of a human at my back, his warm breath and body filling my cold soul with his life and with that, hope that I might make it out of this alive.

**Kitty**

I woke up the next morning with the hangover to end all hangovers. Between what happened, the feeding, the Jack, the Southern Comfort, and the Guard, I was certain my brain was trying to escape my body through my forehead. My body was running on empty, even with all the blood I took from Luca, I was still hungry.

True to my prediction, I was paid a nice little visit from a pair of community guard members. I'm glad they didn't call the Elite though, those bastards always used excessive force with me.

They took one look at me, and the state of my bedroom and left laughing, actually laughing at what they saw. I didn't even have to talk to them. I was so tired I didn't care, in the end I got what I wanted and they left without hassling me. Shame takes too much energy out of me to worry about what people would think. Ari and Luca left early this morning, I felt them slip out but I was far too tired to do anything about it, and it was just me and Juke in bed now.

"I would offer to feed you this morning, but I don't think demon blood is a good thing to be giving you this morning," Juke said chucking. We were laying on our sides facing each other.

"I appreciate your sacrifice though, you're too kind," I said back playfully. Being fed from was just as intoxicating as doing the feeding, and I knew Juke loved it. Every single one of his girlfriends had been vampire.

"Will you talk to Dominic for me today?" I asked. He looked at me like he was thinking it was a bad idea.

"I think you should talk to him Ryann. I have no desire to play telephone between you two." I knew he shouldn't, but I needed some help with all this.

"I can only handle so much right now J, but I'm not asking you to relay anything crucial. Could you just get him a message saying that I will call him in a few days? I just want him to know I haven't forgotten about what happened, but that I need a few days to cool off. He will know what I'm saying," I explained.

"I can do that. For what it's worth though, I think you two should have a long talk when this hearing business is over. There is too much between you two to leave things unsaid," Juke said. We held each other's gaze and sat in silence for a few minutes. It was nice, it felt like how it used to be with the two of us.

"What if you have nothing to say Juke, what then? What do you say in a situation like ours? You saw what happened last night, what happens when we talk about that night, about what happened after? I am going to need half of the Elite guard here and you are going to need a tranquilizer gun handy for that one," I told him. He laughed, but I didn't, I was dead serious.

"We will all be there if you want and you know it, but it needs to be done. We are all better together, we are all stronger together. It is the way it is supposed to be for us, haven't you realized that yet?" He said it so simply, I almost believed him.

"If only that was enough Juke," I said as I closed my eyes and rolled over onto my back to look at the ceiling.

"If you let it be, it can be enough. It can be so much you won't ever need anything else," he told me. Juke had an east way of putting things into their bigger picture. It sounded so nice, I was going to try like hell to make it so.

"I'm going to grab a shower and then head out. You'll call if you need anything right?" he asked looking serious brushing my cheekbone with his the back of his knuckles.

"Yeah, I'll let you know. You stopping by tonight or is Luca staying?" I asked.

"Luca will be here tonight, I have a date." His wry smile spurred my own.

"Who is this lucky girl?" I inquired curiously.

"Her name's Amberley. She is one of the assistant professors at the Academy. She works in the stables with Steig. She is so fine Ryann, seeing her riding around all day is torture. If I don't do something with her soon I'm going explode," he said with a fake groan.

"Isn't she vampire too? You really should find yourself a nice demon girl to bring home to mom," I said laughing. He usually stayed away from his own kind, I don't know why really, he just always had a thing for vamps. A thought struck me.

"Wait a vamp working with horses? They usually hate one another, she must be something special then." He nodded his head at me.

"I think so but I guess we'll see. What are you going to be doing today?" he asked as he was walking towards the bathroom.

"I'm going to see Marcus. Things can't possible get any worse than last night so I might as well."

He gave me a look that conveyed we both knew it could get worse, but thankfully he just laughed it off and went to clean up. After a couple of minutes I heard the shower go on and decided I would start some coffee and call Kitty.

I was sipping my coffee when I saw the notepad that was next to the phone. It had a hand written not on it from Ari.

_Ryann,_

_I had such a great time last night. You sure made it memorable. I wanted to thank you for sharing that information with me, but I do need you to come in and make some more statements pertaining to what happened the night of the mission. If you are still 'recovering' from my attentions last night, I am more than willing to come to you. Give me a call at your convenience._

_Yours,_

_Ari._

I was smiling as I read it, that's how I knew I was in major trouble. It had been a very long time since I had been interested in anyone. Living the kind of existence on the outside was not conducive to finding a connection. Well, a connection besides a fun night in my tent, was hard to come by. Combine that with my past love life, and you find a ball of issues that made it hard for me to notice anyone. Ari had something about him that I found intriguing, and I seemed to find him impossible not to notice. I found myself reaching for the phone and dialing his number without even realizing it.

"Johansson speaking, how may I help you," the deep sound seemed to echo through the phone. He had such a different professional voice, it was sexy.

"Hello I am looking for a member of a foursome I had last night. I think he said his name was Ari. Apparently, he left very early this morning. I can only assume he found me lacking, since he didn't so much as say goodbye. Do you know anyone like that?" I joked, in my best flirting voice.

"Anyone who graced your bed would not find you lacking. If you find this Ari have him committed immediately, he must be a danger to society," he said in mock seriousness, I could hear his smirk through the phone.

"Yes well I got a lovely note with this number on it so you must know him. I'll describe him to you and you can tell me if you recognize him okay?" I head a cough to signal me to continue on.

"Great, now he is tall, with gorgeous brown skin and perfect dimples. His ice blue eyes are framed in long dark lashes that matches his black cropped hair. I noticed one tattoo sleeve that ended just above the right wrist, the top of his sleeve had script in what I think is South African that wrapped from his left collarbone all the way to the right shoulder and part of his back. It was the sexiest thing I had ever seen on a human before, mind you. Oh, and he had a matching South African accent to go along with the tattoo that just about melted my panties right off. You know anyone by that count?" I asked sounding out of out of breath.

After a few seconds he responded. "I'm sorry I got nothing, I had some snappy comeback but I can't remember them now," he said through his chuckles.

"It is early so I'll give you that one. I just got your note and I was wondering if I fed you, would you come to my place on Monday to get my statement? I am not up to traveling just yet," I said truthfully.

"Of course, but I will bring the food. There is this Vietnamese place close to the office that I will bring. You supply the wine and the stories?" he asked back, sounding cute he wanted to make sure.

"That sounds like a plan Ari. If you need to change anything call me here, but otherwise I will see you on Monday." I couldn't believe that was only two days away, I sure had one hell of a week. "Hey, what is an investigator like you doing at the office on a Sat morning anyway?" I asked realizing what day it was.

"Well the spouses that hire me to catch their cheating partners usually make good use of their Saturday mornings. That means I have to make good use of Saturday mornings," he said with what sounded like a sigh.

"Ah, I got it. Well good luck with that," I said taking a big sip of my coffee. Coffee made everything better, I noted to myself.

"I will Ryann, goodbye." He hung up after that, and I found that I was sad the conversation was over. I was in big, big trouble.

I figured I should just get it over with so I called Kitty next. Juke was walking into the kitchen as I was about to dial. He kissed my cheek, grabbed the coffee I made for him and teleported right out of there. I was surprised how used to it I was again, I didn't even get dizzy watching him.

"Stone office, can I put you on hold?" Kitty asked. Well, she didn't really ask she just said it then put me on hold anyway. I wondered why she even bothered to say it. After listening to silence for a few minutes she got back on my line.

"Stone office, how can I help you?" she asked sounding impatient already.

"This is Ryann Stone and I was calling to make an appointment to see Marcus...I mean Alpha Stone," I told her, making use of the proper titles I the hopes she would be nicer to me.

"Yes, I was alerted to expect your call Ms. Stone. He has tomorrow afternoon open, only for a short time mind you, Caroline is coming by to take him to lunch and his appointment after that just canceled this morning. Does that work for you?" she asked me, but I was too stunned to answer. Caroline was taking him to lunch?

I decided to use that nice compartmentalizing part of my personality to place that innuendo, and all my hideous mental pictures, into a box and throw it into the bowels of my brain. Only to be opened after downing a bottle of my strongest liquor.

"That sounds fine, what time should I expect to be there?" I inquired through teeth so locked it was amazing any sound was coming out.

"I think Alpha Stone should be back by 2. If anything changes I can call you." She hung up after that, without so much as another word. I shouldn't be surprised, I had known Kitty my whole life so I should know how she would respond to me. Some things never change.

I took a long minute to look around the kitchen, thinking that so much had happened here last night. I should try to figure things out now that I had some peace and quiet. I should be sorting through my feelings, figuring out what triggered me and why. I should be meditating, focusing on where I wanted this part of my journey to go. There were so many options but none sounded as good as a bath and a nap.

I did both of those things and by the time I finished it was late into the afternoon. I woke up and walked to the kitchen to pack up my bong. I changed the water, added a little crushed ice and took it, and my guitar, out the side stoop and around back to sit at the patio table that resided in the very back of the building. The table was made of thick metal wire with matching wire chairs. They were nicely padded and I knew instantly that I would be out here for a while. I always thought my life of camping was not for me, but maybe I was wrong. When I had free time I seemed to want to spend it outside, in the sun.

I sat there alternately smoking and playing around with my guitar. My broken hand proved to be more of a nuisance than a pain, all the chants Juke did over heat really seemed to help. I tried to play songs that involved as little chord changes as possible. When my hand started to hurt again, I played simple songs and hummed the majority of the notes out.

I felt my face and realized I had a small burn going on my cheeks and nose. I must have been out here for longer than I was counting on. I headed in feeling much lighter than I had earlier that day, sometimes a little fresh air did the trick.

Once I was back inside I cooked up some dinner on the grill outside, and took a much needed shower. I even shaved, wondering why on earth I was bothering with such things, he was just another human, I told myself unconvincingly.

I had a towel wrapped around my body, hair wet and dripping on the floor in a puddle at the back of my feet. I stared into the closet and I knew it was decision time. Pajamas or leather, I was either going to stay in and go to bed, or I was going to go out. I knew what I was going to do already but I think I felt better to pretend it was a harder decision.

**Wings**

I had been keeping tabs on Ryann. She knew that I was planning on staying at her apartment, but I added protection in case that idiot or anyone else thought to mess with her in the meant time. I also knew that if she was given enough time alone, she would get bored and Ryann hated being bored. When she hit that wall, I knew just where she was going to go.

So here I sat in D's, sitting at the bar downing beer after beer, and waiting for her to show up. Someone had called me a bit ago to say that she was walking towards the bar, looking like 'something out of a wet dream'. His words, not mine. I knew this was going to be interesting. Ryann had endured too much, gone through too much here this week to go long without looking for some release. I don't think I would still be standing if I had to deal with what she had so I wouldn't stop her, I would just help her do it safely. It was a part of our relationship that worked the best, we gave each other what we needed without judgment.

"Hey Luca," someone said to my right. I looked over and saw Malachi, hiding the groan that was building in my throat at the sight of his sorry ass. Malachi was tall but wiry, with curly brown hair that he kept long to his collar, and a dark tan that was more genetics than maintenance.

We exchanged a handshake, being familiar with one another, I ran into him often in the human plane. He was into what one would call street pharmaceuticals, and I knew he had history with Ryann that made me very uneasy.

"Hey Chi, how are doin' these days?" I asked in a neutral tone.

"Can't complain Luca, can't complain."

"Are you here for a while or heading back soon?" I asked, but what I was really wondering was if he would mention Ryann. I knew she was the real reason he was making an appearance here at the bar, and I was curious if he would bring it up.

"I'm just here to visit an old friend. She didn't mention she was coming back here, and I was concerned when I couldn't get a hold of her the other day. We see each other quite often," he said smirking, clearly toying with me. I knew they saw each other once every couple of months at best. He was just trying to goad me into thinking they saw each other far more often.

Juke and Dominic appeared on the other side of Malachi at that exact moment, because timing was one hell of bitch. I didn't know they were heading here tonight, and with this new development I had a bad feeling about all of it.

"Old friend huh? Well I hate to tell you but if she didn't call you it probably means she isn't that into you," Juke said with a cruel laugh, keeping his tone even enough to be taken as joking, even if he meant something far more insulting.

"Funny, she wasn't that into me at least a few times the other week. I sure didn't get the impression she was unsatisfied with our relationship. I think one would call that giving mixed messages," he said with a haughty smirk. This was going downhill fast, I needed to get in there to diffuse things or Dominic was going to go furry.

It was at that point a group of warlocks approached him, leaning into his ear and having a private conversation. Maybe luck was turning for our group after all. Chi left after that without word, which was a good thing in my opinion.

"Did you know Ryann was going to be here tonight?" I asked the two, knkowing full well they were here for the same reason I was.

"Yeah," Dominic clipped out. He didn't offer any details but if I had to guess he had placed some scouts on her apartment as well.

"Well Kelly just called and he said that he saw her walking this way, so she should be here any minute. Are you two going to behave and leave her alone?" I asked them accusingly. They narrowed their eyes at me, but nodded all the same. I could tell they were still pissed about my having visited her while she was gone without telling them about it.

"No need to get your panties in a bunch gentleman, I was just wondering who I needed to watch out for more. I can either spend my time watching out for her, or I can watch you two to make sure you don't beat up everyone that looks at her funny," I said, and when I looked between the two I noticed the sneers were gone. They laughed a little and the tension eased.

"Neither of us are going to get in her way. I learned my lesson about pushing things with her last night. I can't say though what I will do if I see Malachi touch her," Dominic trailed off. None of us liked him, but at this point there was only so much we could do. She was a grown woman, a very violent and stubborn grown woman, but she was entitled to her own choices.

We smelled her before she even came within eyesight. With her mixed dominance, her scent was easy to pick out for us, especially since we had all tasted her before. The closest way I could describe it would be like smelling the most savory and sweet dessert you could imagine. It was mouthwatering, and I can say from firsthand experience her blood was as delicious as its aroma.

If she thought she could come in a pick up some fun without much fuss, she was mistaken. This time, word had gotten out about her return and I knew she had no hope of going unnoticed. She was wearing a thin leather pants and a white tank top, with no bra. She had on a matching small leather jacket that looked like it was cut just for her. Her hair looked clean and I could smell her jasmine shampoo from all the way oer here on my stool.

It was hanging in a sheet of burgundy twists that went to her waist. I noticed that her ears were slightly gauged, something I didn't notice before. She was also wearing makeup, tasteful but smoky, it gave her even more of an edge. The femininity she was throwing off was actually enhancing her menace and appeal that normally accompanied her. It was a look not many women could pull off.

Her face was a mash of bruises but somehow it worked for her too. I was ready to jump down and say hello when I noticed her shoes. They were high heels, not those platform stripper things but a high heel with a slightly pointed toe and straps around her ankle. She was always somewhat of a small nugget, but those heels make her look longer and taller.

She was on the prowl all right. I sat back on my stool and decided to wait her out. If she needed help I would be here, she probably already smelled us all so if she needed something she would know where to go. Her beast needed this night, her vampire needed blood, and I wouldn't be dumb enough to stand in her way.

The whole bar stopped talking when she came into view. When it looked like it was a standoff of who would blink first, I noticed Leah coming from the back of the bar towards her.

I think it was Leah, the succubus that London was saying she found in her apartment a couple of days ago. She was one fine specimen, even for a demon. The only problem about succubus was I found myself thinking about what she really looked like. I felt like I should give her pointers. Like you should trim this up or you should enhance that a bit. No one liked to be critiqued, no matter how you got your body. In my defense, I usually thought about this after we had sex. Anything leading up to that contained none of those thoughts. How dumb would you have to be to bring that up _before_?

Leah kissed Ryann, full on the mouth but not long enough for a claiming or a show. It looked more like a nice to see you again kiss. I think Leah was doing Ryann a favor, something for everyone to comment on besides the details behind her return. That kiss was enough to draw every male eye in the room, and I laughed aloud thinking it would be easy pickings for Ryann now.

Really all three of them? I smelled a rat, knowing there was no way all three of them were here just by chance. I knew they just wanted to keep me safe, especially after what happened the other night so as long as they didn't cock block me, I was fine with a little extra backup.

I looked around the rest of the bar and noticed everyone was staring. Well, I knew it would probably be like this tonight, I had been here too long for word not to have gone around. I saw Leah heading my way and I relaxed. She came up and kissed me lightly on the mouth, wasting no time to lead me back to the pool tables she was playing at with her friends. They were all in the middle of what looked like a doubles game, which grounded to a halt when we got near.

The pool tables were in an alcove in the back, the front was open to the rest of the bar, but it went deep enough that you had to get really close to see the whole area. There was a stand up bar shelf at the back, and along the sides there were stools here and there for players to lounge on. That was where Jason was sitting, leaning his tall frame over the edge of one.

"Hey Thor," I said as Jason leaned down to kiss my cheek. He pulled me to his side.

"Thor? Are you really still going to call me that?" he playfully asked, running a hand through his hair on purpose.

"I can't be the first to call you that Jason, you look so much like him," I said truthfully.

"You are the first to say it to my face, brave bird. Wait, this could have potential for me," he said with sudden interest, pushing himself to his full height so I had to crane my neck. He noticed my struggle and bent down, placing his head next to mine.

He leaned in to whisper. "Want to see my hammer of the gods?" he asked huskily. I threw my head back and started laughing while he scowled at me, not liking the response.

"Quit hitting on Ryann. Next thing we know you are going to bust out those damn wings," Leah said looking at me and rolling her eyes. "They never say no after seeing them. I swear he wouldn't even have to speak to them if he let them loose more often." She was shaking her head at him, the knowing smile meant it worked against her own game.

"I bet they are stunning," I said to Jason, suddenly picturing them behind him. I was really curious about them, I bet they were a light blond color like his hair. Most angel wings were similar in color and style to the person's body, not the traditional neutral colors everyone believed.

"How come you didn't free them the other night? Oh no, I didn't miss it did I? I knew I shouldn't have drank that tequila," I said in an unflattering whining tone. I was really bummed now, angel wings were my favorite.

"You had to go and say that didn't you Ryann. Oh here he goes, you better be coming home with me tonight, you just ruined my chances of being noticed at all," Leah said with an exaggerated pout as she stepped away from where he was standing.

Before I knew what was happening, all his friends we rolling their eyes, in a similar fashion to Leah's, and clearing a space around him. Everyone expect for me, I was making my way as close to him as he would allow.

He made a move, like he was about to flex his shoulders, and they snapped from his back in a violent crash. Long, almost reaching to the floor, his wings were at least six feet wide if he really stretched them out. Breathtakingly beautiful, they were thick and muscular and the exact color I thought they would be, a light blond color they almost shimmered in the bar lights.

They were masculinity defined, nothing dainty or cherubic about his pair, you looked on him and saw pure strength. Angel wings were a different kind of power, as ancient as the world itself. I realized I was running my hands up and down the front edge of his wings, feeling the hard bone that was sheathed in thick muscle and soft feathers. It was so alive under my fingertips, rippling under my touch. I knew my eyes were red, I'm sure the lust was coming off of me in waves.

"Will you turn around for me?" I asked on a whisper. Jason barked out a command for his friends to leave us alone, his voice turned so deep and demanding even Leah left us be without complaint.

He turned around for me when they were gone. Leaning over a bit and putting his hands on shelf at the back of the room. The pool lamps were just out of range. If people focused enough they could see us, but we were in a bit of a shadow back here.

I went to the end of the table closest to the open room and pushed the pool table closer to him, bathing the end of the table in the darkness. I jumped fluidly onto the top, landing with nary a sound atop the felt. I stared for a minute in awe of him, the large stance of his back bared for me, legs spread wide to maximize the effect. I don't think I would ever forget the sight. I wanted a bit more privacy so I smashed the last light over the table, the middle bulb's glass raining down like snow, and the turned my attention back on Jason.

The wings came out from mid to upper back, seamlessly protruding from the skin. The downy part of the wings started there, and fanned out where the beginnings of his true feathers began, these covering the rest of his wings. I could feel each tendon and taut muscle as I explored. I should have realized everyone was watching, but I was far too engrossed in his wings to notice.

I didn't want to waste one second of this opportunity, I wasn't sure I would ever get the chance again. Angels were very careful of who they shared their wings with, they might flash them occasionally, but to get up close and see them, but to touch them especially with his back turned was rare. An angels wings were a very private part of their body, so he must trust me to show them to me like this. To allow me this in public was almost taboo.

I played with some of the feathers at the end and noticed his wing twitched, like horse skin trying to shake off a fly. I smoothed the spot and ran my hand up to the point of attachment on his back and heard a sort of growl, it was the closest thing to an angel purr I had ever heard. He turned around, placed my hands on each of his shoulders shoulder and lifted me up to wrap my legs around his waist. I looked into his lavender eyes and ran my hand over the top tip of his wing again, barely able to keep my hands off of him. His eyes flashed a stark white at the touch, like liquid lighting.

"You should always lead with these. Women will barely be able to keep their clothes on with you in full glory like this. You might even incite a riot," I told him with a laugh, but I was serious, he would cause accidents.

"I haven't shown my wings in public like this in a millennium. I don't know what got into me tonight. I feel like a little one again," he rasped out, running his hands on the backs of my thighs.

"No one would describe you as little, but it must feel good to let go." I said, understanding the constraint of restraining power.

"It does, but Leah is going to have my balls for this stunt. Will you protect me when she comes back here?" he asked playfully.

"Of course. We can't have her hurting the hammer of the gods now can we?" I whispered into his ear. It was his turn to throw back his head and laugh. I reached out to touch his right wing and he lifted it up so I could get a better angle on it. If I went home with Leah and him, these were coming out this time.

**Vegas Fairies**

I framed his face with my hands, tucking a loose strand of blonde hair behind his ear. I noticed that the band they had playing must have taken a break, the sound system started to play some techno. A haunting female voice started in after a couple of seconds, it was enough to dance to, and I could never turn down an opportunity to dance.

I must have given him some indication I wanted to move, because he started swaying to the beat and he placed me back on the floor. For a man his size, he sure knew how to move, before long we were twisting and turning into each other like we had been dancing for years. After quite a few shots of Jack from the back waitress, I hopped up back on the pool table. It wasn't even a conscious decision on my part, it just felt right, so I went with it.

I had picked up some tips on how to dance when I was passing through Vegas, I ran into some fairy exiles that were working in one of the casinos on the strip. They let me stay with them in their trailer just outside the city in exchange for some free self-defense lessons. Apparently being a dancer came with some hidden dangers, they were eager to learn from me.

Fairies had the reputation of being very tricky and mean, but for the most part I found those two hilarious fun. Shania and Whitney, as they were going by then, taught me well I thought to myself as I peered over my shoulder to Jason who was lounging on a stool across from me. He looked relaxed, but one glance at his powerful legs suggested he was ready to pounce if I played it right.

I was moving fluidly, teasing just enough to still stay classy. Well, classy considering I was dancing on a pool table. Jason threw a couple of large bills at the manager when he came to say I needed to get off of the table before I ruined it. He also mumbled something about the light I had smashed, but Jason growled at him, told him to put it on his tab, and he scurried off like the rest. We had our own bottle of Jack in the room from this point on, which I drank down to the bottom.

When the song was over, he pulled me from the top and kept me close, my feet dangling off the ground. He took one look in my eyes, and kissed me sensless. It was deep, not your gentle kind of lust. Some people you just had instant chemistry with, and he was one of them. He set me on the ground and we both whipped around when we heard a noise to our backs, I was praying that it wasn't Dom, who I just realized I was probably really showing off for.

"Ryann?" came a male voice behind me. Cris? Jason put me on the ground, but kept me at his side, tucked in with his arm tight around me. His wings were still out, and he made no move to pull them in.

"Hello Cris, fancy running into you here. I didn't think you like the shifter bars. You said you avoided this place at all costs," I told him warily. I was wondering why everyone I knew had to be here, I didn't mean to sound prissy but I was getting sick of the interruptions.

"Yes well there happened to be a reason for me to visit tonight. You haven't been returning my calls," he informed me, tilting his head to the side, confused. I didn't know he had called, and the tone he used didn't sit well with me, he must have sensed my unease.

"I just wanted to talk with you about some things if that is okay with you," he said switching to a more gentle voice, holding his hands up in surrender. He looked nervous about something, and my earlier unease shifted focus to what was making him so antsy.

"I don't know how to pick up messages where I'm staying. I apologize. Wait, how did you get my number exactly?" I asked feeling very anxious he was able to track me down.

"I have connections. It was very easy to get it actually," he said plainly. I should have the number switched tomorrow. Jason tensed for a second at my side.

"You can stand down angel, I mean her no harm," Cris said to Jason, his own fangs lengthening despite what he said. Vampires didn't much like the deity magics, they never quite saw eye to eye.

Angels were very good at reading people, they were akin to walking lie detectors. I knew he didn't come to harm me, he was a bit nervous but I sensed no bad intentions. Jason must have agreed with me, because he relaxed, retracted his wings and stood down a bit. He didn't leave my side though.

"I have no problem talking with you Cris. Jason, can you go and get me a beer while I talk with him for a moment? What do you think Cris, he can come back in ten?" I asked smiling, wanting to make it less like a powderkeg in here. Cris nodded tightly, and Jason looked a bit unsure about leaving me, but he did as I asked. I didn't know how far away he was going, but he was going to give us space. I pulled up two stools and waiting for him to talk, feeling puzzled about his visit.

"I wanted to apologize for Caroline the other day," he said with a small blush. I tried not to let my jaw hit the floor, whatever I was expecting him to say, it sure as hell wasn't that.

"She has always been so jealous of you and Kyle, so she has been waiting for you to come back to sink her teeth into you. I had no clue she was going to be that awful about it, she told me about what she said, we talked and I asked her to stand down. I hope that means what we shared in Seattle, will still stay in our personal memories only," he said with seriousness in his voice. He clearly didn't want to be out to his family and I suddenly felt bad for him. Having an affinity for male attention, in his stuck up vampire family, must be torture for him. They were not known to tolerate anything different, and I'm sure they wouldn't be accepting of it.

"What happened will not be repeated as long as you and your family mean me no harm. What I said to Caroline, using what we shared, was wrong of me also. She really knows how to bring out the worst in me," I said with a grimace. I felt a bit bad about bringing him into my issues with Caroline. Cris could be a good guy, when he wanted to be.

"Thank you," he said and rose to leave. Looking back to me he said. "I put in a good word for you to my father. I don't know how that will work out, his actions can be unpredictable, but I tried." He gave me a small smile, and I was left wondering if I had misjudged him after all.

Just as he was leaving the area, Malachi came barreling in, rocked into Cris's shoulder, feigning innocence.

"Oh excuse me Cris, I almost didn't see you there," he said as he locked eyes with me. He was not in a good mood, his eyes were a dark ruby color, almost glowing in the dark space back here.

"Hello Malachi," Cris gritted out between clenched teeth. Chi ignored him completely, or the menace he was throwing his way.

"My, my Ryann," Chi started in locking his eyes with mine. "You sure have been busy in this room tonight. First you practically dry humped that angel, though I shouldn't complain, it was almost worth the boner it gave me just watching you two move. Now here you are having a very private conversation with Cris, whispering in each other's ears and everything. It seemed so intimate, I know you crave male attention but you really have been stepping it up Ryann," Malachi said dripping with malice and it surprised me. In the time I had known him, he had always been temperamental but never cruel like this, something was wrong. I never misjudged people this badly, first Cris and now him?

"Chi what I do is none of your business. Over the few times we have been together, I have made that very clear," I told him switching into my serious mode. I needed him to leave before he stirred up too much trouble for me, with all the men here tonight, things could go furry real quick.

Malachi strode forward and grabbed onto my forearm, the one in the cast, and jerked it to guide me to the side of the room. He hissed in my ear as he backed me up to the wall, ignoring the breath I let out as the pain hit me.

"Do you really think you can use me like you have the past year, and get away with it? I thought we had something nice Ryann, I wanted to make everything work with you, but we have to get some things straight first." I looked around, and I noticed Cris had left, I was hoping he was getting some reinforcements, and hoping he chose Juke instead of Dom or Luca.

Chi leaned in to snarl in my ear. "You will not be fucking anyone else do you understand me? I. Do. Not. Share," he snapped out to me, almost spitting as he clipped it out. He was backing me towards the corner, which I couldn't let happen.

I tried to fight him, pushing back towards the front, but he gripped my sore arm harder. If the boys saw what was going on, they were going to be over her in flash. I needed to calm him down and figure out what the hell was going on. I stopped fighting, letting him pull me a bit farther, but not all the way in the back.

"Chi, I always told you that I was looking for easy. I was never looking for anything long term, not with my past. I thought what we had was nice too, but it wasn't going to last, you knew that," I said going for my reassuring voice. He looked murderous at my words. I started backing towards the pool sticks, if I needed to, I could snap it in half and steak him, but I really didn't want to go there. I wanted to get to the bottom of why he was acting like this.

"We were going to end up together though, I know it Ryann. I remember you would be traveling for a while, but you would always came back to me. You will come back to me again, and we can go back to what we had. We suit each other so well, we both have so much pain, and we both have sorrow. It's in your eyes like it is in mine." He looked crazy saying it, and I had to consider the fact that he was high.

"Chi listen to me, I am so flattered you think that. We do share the same sorrow, it's what drew me to you in the first place, but you are scaring me right now. This isn't you, the Chi I know wouldn't be mean and so forceful like this. Did you take something? Something new?" I asked him, trying to get his mind off his focus of me. He was looking more violent by the second, so I was guessing it wasn't working.

"This is all me Ryann. What do you expect me to act like, with you leading me on the whole time like that? How many people were you sleeping with when you were with me? Tell me!" he yelled the last part of it and I realized the boys were standing in the doorway with Cris and Jason in tow. Oh boy. Noticing Cole I gave them a hand behind Malachi's back that indicated they should stand down so I could try to talk him down.

_'Let me handle this Cole, if it starts to look bad you can come, but I think I can calm him down. Something's not right with him,' _I said to him.

In the best reassuring voice I could muster I said, "We were never together Chi, we had fun, we shared stories, but there was never an 'us'. I don't think..." That was all I got out before he interrupted me completely.

"I know you slept with Luca, you little slut, half the camp that night could hear you two. The rest that didn't, they could smell the blood for miles. You never shared blood with me, filthy blood whore. Who else was there? TELL ME!" he roared. I looked over his shoulder to the boys. They were hiding their emotions well at Chi's revelation. They were focusing on Chi but I could tell Dominic was straining against his beast. Luca smartly stepped a bit away from him, giving him room.

"Chi honey, you need to bring it down a notch okay, the whole bar can hear you yelling. You are scaring me," I told him softly, trying to appeal to his protective nature, and placing a hand on his chest. At this comment he flew at me, pinning my hands above my head with one hand, holding a knife to my throat with the other and breathing heavy into my hair by my ear. I wasn't sure what he was going to do, but I knew this wasn't going to end well for him.

"My friends are at your back and if you don't step back, they are going to come here in force to disarm you. Just back away a bit okay. At least put the knife down Chi and we can discuss whatever you want. Let's talk this out okay?" I said looking into his eyes for a sign he was still in there.

The knife had nicked my neck just enough to send a trickle of blood down my neck, into the crevice in between my collarbones at the base of my throat. He looked crazed at the smell, his vampire eyes flashed deep red and he dropped the knife to lunge at my neck with this mouth.

That was all the space I needed to attack. I snapped a kick to his instep, causing Chi to drop his arms and bend down just a touch. I brought up my knee and planted it into his face, snapping his nose and causing a river of blood to shoot towards the ground. He recovered quick and caught me with a punch to my chin, snapping my head around violently. This would backfire in his face, because it was then that I noticed I was within reach of the pool sticks I grabbed one and in the next instant, snapped it over my knee to create a foot long steak with a wicked jagged edge.

I swung back around to face him, holding the steak in front of me. He saw it and it seemed to snap something in him, like he was waking up from a dream. He took a step back and caught his heel on the edge of a stool. Chi whirled to fall back but before he could hit the ground Dominic had slammed into him pining him to the floor, his body on top.

"Are you out of your mind Malachi? What the hell is wrong with you?" He kept repeating the same question, while Malachi sat motionless underneath him. Dom's hands were shaking, they were balled up in Chi's shirt at the collar and looked like he was going to choke him on the spot.

"Dom," I started to say, touching his shoulder. "You need to take a couple of deep breaths and realize you are in a bar with witnesses. Just let him up enough we can all corner him and keep him contained until someone gets here. I'm sure they called someone in already." I knelt down so that we were eye level. If I could get him to look at me I could talk him down.

"Dominic look at me, you can keep your hands there just look at me." He obliged and locked eyes with me, his breath coming in angry rushes out his nose.

"Dominic, just let him go okay. Cole and Juke are right behind us and I can smell Cris and Jason in the doorway. He's not going anywhere okay? Just let him go, you're starting to cut off his air supply," I told him. Chi was, at the moment, turning blue and a bit longer he was going to go unconscious, unconscious wasn't a good state to interrogate someone.

He finally listened to me, shoving Chi away and stalking to the corner of the room as Cole and Juke focused in to herd Chi into the other corner. Cole could hold him with a spell all night, so I walked over in the hopes of seeing if Dominic was okay.

"Are you okay?" I asked quietly. He spun around and glared at me, which didn't bode well for our next conversation.

"Are _you_ okay?" he countered. I touched the side of my jaw that Chi connected to and noticed it was a bit swollen but nothing worse that I'd had before.

"I'm fine, he hits like a girl," I told him smiling.

"You are a girl, so you shouldn't be saying that. Isn't it demeaning to women or something?" he asked with a hint of fury in his voice.

"Okay, he hits like Cole then," I said loud enough for him to hear.

"I heard that!" Cole yelled laughing.

I looked back to Dominic and noticed he didn't look better at all. I was debating talking to him again when I spotted a couple of guard members standing in the doorway, talking to Cris and Juke. I'm sure I would have to address the Luca issue at some point, but I was just glad I didn't have to do it right now.

The guards came over to take my statement of what happened. I doubt they needed it with all of eyewitness accounts to back me up, the whole bar could see what was going on.

The boys had joined me at some of the stools on the other side of the wall as the guard set to the task of bringing in Malachi. One had approached him, by the looks of it he was trying an air hold to keep him immobile just as Cole had. As he got Malachi up the other officer headed out of the doorway and across the bar, while the first guy was walking Malachi out behind him. Then all hell broke loose.

Malachi must have been faking it the whole time, either that or his spell use was much farther advanced then I thought. The rest happened in the span of a few seconds. He spun out of the hold from officer dumb ass and had pulled a gun from a holster under the jacket he was wearing. It must have been concealed well for Dominic to miss it. He turned in an action movie way, aiming the gun towards me. I reached over the stool to the shelf and grabbed the steak I was holding earlier. As he pulled the trigger, my instinct took over and I threw the steak with every last drop of strength I had in my body. It zoomed through the air and planted into his chest. I knew a kill shot when I threw one, so I didn't need to follow it up with anything else.

The flinch he had thrown at the sight of my steak was enough for the bullet to hit my shoulder versus my heart. It went through and through luckily, but the path of the bullet sent a wave of pain in me that brought me to my knees. Between that and the pain from my arm, I ended up throwing up all over the floor again, staring into a pool of Jack under me.

I could smell Dominic at my back, holding my hair away from the puke. He was rubbing my back and my skin was feverish at the touch. After all this time, his touch still sent my heart aflutter. I was embarrassed that Cris and Luca could probably hear it. I briefly considered faking being sick again so he could keep rubbing my back, beacause things couldn't get much worse from here.

I thought it was interesting Malachi was carrying silver bullets in his gun. Silver was toxic to werewolves and vampires, it wouldn't be enough to kill me but it would be enough to put me down so he could finish the job. Combine that with my blood, and he would have to pump me with the whole magazine before he could get a better advantage. Malachi had no backup though to help him out, which indicated maybe he was crazy. None of this was making sense, Chi wouldn't get so high he would do something this stupid.

I stood up with Dominic holding the back of my elbow to steady me.

"How did you miss the gun Dominic?" I asked him, it came out a bit more bitterly than I wanted but the gunshot wound hurt like a bitch.

"I have no idea, I didn't see it at all. I didn't strip search him but I should have been able to notice it. Cole, can you put a concealment spell on a gun?" he asked Cole.

"I have heard of that being done but it would have to be a pretty powerful magic user to put it on there," he answered.

This was going from bad to worse. After we got everything straight with the guard, who didn't say much other than muttering apologies, I decided to call it a night and beg someone to take me to the med clinic.

**Frequent Flier**

Cole was the volunteer tonight. He called quickly to London, gave her a very simplified account of what happened, then spent the next fifteen minutes convincing her to stay home. I was glad it was him tonight, I needed someone who could calm me.

We teleported into the front desk area, I was still holding some gauze to the entry point while Cole was holding a piece to the exit. We sat down, waiting to be called in. He was humming a song into my ear along with some incantations and it was helping with the pain. I was sitting in his lap so that we could put enough pressure onto the holes to stop the bleeding, and after a few minutes I closed my and rested my head on his shoulder.

When the healer came out and brought us back to the room, I didn't fight it when he wanted to carry me. I didn't have the extra energy, even if I was sick of letting people carry me like this. If I ever got this chip out I would be the one doing the carrying, not some damsel in distress like I was now.

Cole didn't make a move to put me down even when the healer asked for him to place me on the bed, he placed me back on his lap on the side chair in the room. As the she started chanting and dressing my wounds, she asked if I wanted my husband to stay with me, Cole corrected her, although it didn't really bother us. It wasn't the first time someone had thought we were mated, and she wouldn't be the last.

I think out of all of us, Cole and I were the closest growing up, understanding our relationship was hard sometimes even for our friends. Most outsiders assumed we were together, even at a young age, when in reality we were never more than friends.

His parents had died when he was a baby, leaving him to be brought up with his aunt and uncle, who were prominent members of the Witch and Warlock council. This allowed him to be on the approved list for people with whom I could spend my time with, according to my parents.

Cole grew up with two loving people in his home, unlike me. It was because of them that it was Cole who showed me love first. He was the first one to show me affection, Cole was one who dressed by wounds, sang to me at night, and gave me my first hug. I remember thinking he was trying for a wrestling take down, and I body checked him over the couch in my living room the first time he tried to do it. In true Cole fashion he leapt back over to me and tried it again. We were seven.

I would have turned out just like my parents if it wasn't for him. By the time we were eight it was Juke, Dominic, London and Cole that made up my family, despite my parents disapproval of some of them. Once Luca came to join us in school, he became part of us as well, a seamless fit that completed us.

There were some others that came and went, boyfriends, girlfriends, and school mates that would try to come in. They never lasted long, once they did something wrong to one, of us we eliminated them entirely.

All my boyfriends hated the boys, and all their girlfriends hated me and London. One even tried to stab me when I sleeping, it was within my rights so I severed her jugular with my claws and she bled out on my bedroom floor. I would have has some respect for her if she would have challenged me publicly at least. Not that the outcome would have been different, she must have had one hell of a crush on Dom to do that to me.

The healer worked her magic, and then left me to rest. Cole laid me down on the bed and walked out to find some clean clothes for me. I slipped off the tank, now covered in blood, shrugged off my pants and folded them at the end of the bed. I left my jacket slung over the side chair. Cole walked in with some scrub pants and a hospital gown. He slipped it over my head carefully guiding my good arm through, but leaving the other side open, tying it loosely behind my back.

I threw on the pants and I climbed into bed. He laid down next to me and I curled into his side, putting my head on this shoulder and chest. I sighed at the contact, being with him like this was so nice. I snuggled a bit closer as he hummed a tune and I fell almost instantly asleep.

"How is she doing?" I asked Cole, looking at her sleeping face, noticing she looked really knocked out. I took Cole's spot on the bed with her, she was curled on one side and I faced her, curled on my own side. I was watching her sleep, she looked so young and peaceful now, the scowl she normally had on was erased.

"She is doing fine Dom, they were able to chant most of the damage from the silver away, and they stitched up the exit wound but it should be healed by the morning anyway. She should just feel some minor pain by the time she wakes up, which could be while considering I gave her some human sedative to keep her out when she wasn't looking. She needs some rest," he replied with a shrug like she wasn't going to kill him when she found out.

"You are one brave man Cole, she is going to have your nuts when she wakes up," Juke teased, knowing full well she would exact some revenge.

"She let me hold her the whole time here Dominic," Cole said to me. I snapped my head around and stared at him, I couldn't hear something more surprising come from him.

"I think she is coming back to us, slowly. Little by little she is opening up, but she let me hold her like I used to when we were kids. She trusted me enough to just sit here with me. I can't think of the last time she let me just take control and hold her.

"Dominic, she's letting us back in, and as long as we play it right we could get everything back like it was before. I wish London was here to see it. She would have been so happy to see Ryann like that. Well minus the gunshot wounds, but she would be so happy to see her letting down her guard a little," Cole said smiling just thinking about it. It made me jealous I wasn't at that point yet with her. Juke broke in, instead of a smile, his face looked confused.

"She let you carry her? That seems strange, you sure she is the real Ryann? She hates being carried. Remember when we did that bodyguard detail for the fairy queen? She took on that fire witch and got her legs burnt to a crisp, man I don't know how she was still standing by the end of it. I walked over and bent to pick her up and she slugged me. She told me she was going to walk out of there on her own, peeling and bleeding feet be damned. She made it all the way over to check on Dom and then teleported when backup came. That seems like a lifetime ago," Juke told us fading off when thinking of the past. She was always so damn stubborn.

"That might have been a lifetime ago, but she sure didn't look too rusty tonight," Cole added laughing.

"Yeah, did you see her throw that steak tonight? Whew Cole, it was impressive. He would have plugged that bullet right through her heart if she timed it a half a second too late," Juke chimed in from the chair in the corner of the room.

Juke continued like he usually did when no one was talking. "I mean I for one can't wait to see her with her chip out again. We need to plan ahead of time for that to happen, I could have it at the arena at school, and we could sell tickets. I could retire with all the money I'd make." We all laughed this time, knowing it could actually work.

"Seriously though, we all need to be there when it happens. Luca especially, he's usually the only one strong enough to control her vampire. Maybe even Jason. He seemed to calm her pretty well tonight," Juke said smiling and looking at me. I knew just what he was doing. Cole chimed in before I could.

"Shut up J, we were all there for that little show. Did you see her jump on that pool table and dance? In those heels?" Cole added with a whistle. It was surprising, he was usually the sane voice in our little chats, but this week had really put us all through hell.

"Cole, if you mention that again I will not hesitate to punch you. I didn't like seeing it, and I don't want to hear it brought up again okay?" I told him. I knew I sounded as pissed as I looked, it wasn't something I was going to easily scrape from my memory either.

"Are you going to talk to Luca about what was thrown around tonight Dom? I mean Chi could have been lying but I don't think so, if he was there for her on the outside I could see it happening. They are so alike, and if you add in the blood sharing between vampire lovers it wouldn't be odd. It's still a douche bag move to not tell anyone, but you need to talk to him about it." Cole wasn't going to let it go until I discussed it, I could tell.

"Cole, do me a favor and leave off it. Whatever happened needs to be addressed by Ryann alone. If she wants to mention it she will, don't make it worse by forcing the issue, just let it go for now," I said, noticing how pathetic my reasoning sounded. I was dying to know what happened, but I couldn't push things with her.

"Sure Dominic, I will let it go as soon as you realize you need to suck it up and talk with her about this shit. It's a waste man. You two had something special, everyone saw it. It was something that made people believe in love again. If you don't want to talk it out, I'm not saying work it out mind you, but to not even give it a shot by talking is a waste. You heard her heart tonight I'm sure, you touched her and Luca said her heart stopped, not stuttered or skipped but stopped. There is something there Dominic, for gods sakes, don't let it go. Don't let her go again," he said looking tired. I know everyone had been thinking the same thing. I had too but it was never that easy, she did want to be caught this time.

"When the time is right I will talk with her," I said. I was thinking about this more and more on my own, and I knew I needed to do it. It was going to be painful as hell but I would risk it just to touch her again.

"Yeah well pick a time when she isn't seducing an angel, getting shot, beaten up, or getting hit on my a fucking human for gods sakes," Juke chimed in. It might sound crude but he wasn't wrong. "You lose to a human and I won't be seen with you in public anymore," Juke added laughing.

"I'll try to fit that in J," I replied sarcastically, turning to stare at Ryann some more.

Here I go again, I thought as I stopped into the hospital to teleport Ryann home after her getting shot last night. Not getting shot at, but actually getting shot. This was starting to get to me, when Cole called last night I needed to take a long time to calm down. This was so hard to watch from farther outside than I would normally, any other time I would be right there in the action. Little baby Banks was kicking like a spaz in my stomach, I think he or she knew I was upset. I popped right in front of the front desk, feeling like I should need a frequent flier card here.

"Can you direct me to Ryann Stone's room?" I asked the fairy behind the counter. They really need to tone it down on the glitter, it wasn't a good look for her.

She explained to me where to find her, and I proceeded down the hallway towards her room. I found Cole curled up in the chair in the corner, Juke had left earlier to head into school. I almost stopped dead when I saw Dominic in bed with Ryann. I was never usually at a loss for words, but I wasn't sure what to do. I almost decided to back out of the room to come back later when I noticed Ryann was awake. I took a couple steps over to the bed and saw she was looking over at Dominic, who was dead asleep next to her.

"Hey Lon," Ryann said quietly, trying to keep her voice down. She pulled his blanket up over his shoulder as she looked up to me.

"How long have you been staring at him?" I asked her playfully. I was all for them working things out, and I needed to be careful not to tease her too much. I had no intentions of getting in their way of reconciling.

"A while, I'm not sure, I think your crazy ass mate drugged me last night. I never sleep through the night, but here I am waking up at the crack of dawn like sleeping fucking beauty," she said with a grin. It was so good to see her smile again. It was big and it lit her face up.

"That sounds like Cole," I said back. I was afraid if I kept talking I would wake Dominic then this nice picture would be smashed. In truth I was really afraid I would never see it again.

"I'm going to wake him up and take him home, he has some work to do on the baby's room and then I'm going to come back for you okay? I'll give you a little while to keep resting. I don't think Dominic would mind," I said with a smile tipping one side of my lips. Her smile dropped off her face.

"No Lon, I can't," she said soberly, back to the serious Ryann I had seen lately.

"You two have been circling each other all week. Maybe you should take this opportunity..."

"I just need you to get me out of here please. I can't lay here with him one more minute," she didn't look it but I knew she was fighting tears. I helped her get out of the bed as quiet as we could. She motioned to her clothes and I grabbed them.

"Are you sure you want to leave?" I asked her noticing she was looking over her shoulder at him, a far off expression on her face.

"Please," was all she said, and I did my best friend duty, getting her the hell out of there.

**Sins of the Father**

After London made sure I was all settled in, she left to meet Cole at home. I didn't want to think too much about what had happened with Dominic last night. I was going to put that in a box, take it to the attic, shove it on an empty shelf in the back, and open it later, like in twenty years.

I was so grateful to be home by myself, I needed to take some time to prepare for seeing my father anyway. Who was I kidding, it would take a year to prepare to see him again. I took a good long nap first before starting to get ready, showering then sleeping on a wet head was never a good idea if I wanted to show up looking presentable.

I put on some jazz music when I finally woke up and made it to the tub. I was going to stay in here until the water ran cold. I had a row of joints lined up on the bathroom counter, as well as a few sweaty coronas next to me by the tub. I had to maximize my time best I could, knowing Cole was coming in an hour to teleport me into my father's office. I laid back in the tub, floating my legs up while trying to keep my cast and shoulder out of the water.

I spent some time going over what happened with Malachi. Someone had drugged him or spelled him, there was no doubt in my mind about that. It was so strange, too strange to not have been orchestrated by someone else. The really was starting to bother me, I had enough to worry about thinking about the meeting with Marcus.

I thought about all the possible scenarios for why on earth my father would want to talk to me now, none of the different situations ended well for me. I tried some more meditation to calm down, and I was beginning to think those hippies really knew the secret to life.

Then I tried to mentally remember that attacking the werewolf alpha, the werewolf council chair, and a tribunal committee member would be bad. Not good for my plan of convincing everyone I was a weakling that everyone should leave alone, which proved harder than I was anticipating. I did, however, learn that picturing fight scenes against my father was immensely relaxing, definitely not healthy, but relaxing. Now if only I could decide what I wanted to wear.

Cole showed up right on time to catch me in the bathroom, joint between my lips and applying some light makeup. I really just wanted to cover some of the bruises, even though Marcus would have heard what happened, I wanted to look as good as I could.

"Are you going to wait for me at the office, or are you going to visit Ella and Glen?" I asked him. I hadn't seen his aunt and uncle since the sentencing. They were always very polite to me, but I got the sense they were not my biggest fans. After what I did to Cole I think they must hate me now.

"I'm going to pop in for a visit, but I should be back by the time you are done, if not just call me and I can get over there quick, we will be within range," he said looking cautiously over to me. "Do I need to go over some ground rules about this meeting? Do I need to tell you what a bad idea it is to provoke him or assault him? Because, I hate to say it, but he holds more power over everyone now, than he ever did before. Your hearing could come down to how he votes. Kyle was your sister, you were a part of his shape shifter membership, and you are his daughter, so it is likely everyone will take their cues from him." Tell me something I don't know, I knew how important keeping my cool with my father was.

"I'm aware Cole okay, I know how crucial this all is," I said gesturing to the remnants of my little tub party, indicating I tried to tame the beast ahead of time.

"Well, at least you got something in your system to calm you down," he said laughing quietly. In very uncharacteristic fashion for him, he took the joint and took a good long drag from it. We passed it back and forth for a while, watching the smoke from both the tub and the joint billow around the room.

"Did I tell you Kitty said my father was having lunch with Caroline today? She said his meeting after had just canceled on him, so he could fit me in. Can you think of any reason Caroline would be having lunch with Marcus?" I asked him as he choked on a drag from the joint. I really can't see this being a good thing, and from Cole's reaction he didn't either.

"I have no clue on that one. It could be she wants to make sure you stay quiet, which frankly wouldn't be a bad thing to get some outside forces looking favorably on you. It could also be very bad knowing Caroline, however I think you hold too many cards for her to be trying to mess with you. She may be ruthless, but she isn't smart enough to out maneuver you," he told me confidently. I had the same feeling, but there was something about this whole thing that was bugging me.

"You don't think they are sleeping together do you?" I asked, looking green. If that happened I would have to kill them. There was no way I could see them together.

"I don't think so, but with you home this week everything that could go wrong has," he said grimly. I couldn't reassure him, he was not wrong about that.

I settled for some dark jeans, and a gray long sleeve top that had some pretty buttons up one side. I had on my short motorcycle boots only so I could fit my knife in them. I considered this a good compromise.

Cole had argued with me for fifteen minutes about taking my jacket and guns with me. He thought it was too aggressive looking, I told him not to worry because if I saw Caroline and Marcus so much as touch, I was going to use the gun on myself instead.

We arrived in the lobby and Cole gave me a quick kiss then headed off to the next building. Kitty noticed me and nodded, pointing behind her and indicating I could go on back. I stood and took a deep breath, feeling an intense urge to run. I had to fight it just to keep one foot in front of the other. I knocked on his office door and entered a second after, my standard when I visited him here.

He sat at his large wooden desk, it was intricately carved with trees and leaves around the top edge and sides. I used to love coming to his office to see this desk, I would trace the little trees with my fingertips over and over, and the small wolves that were carved into the side were special to me. The top of the desk was filled with paperwork from the tribunal and council business. He was finishing up signing some papers, keeping me waiting for a greeting.

I think this was his way of getting into someone's head. He would always seem like he was granting you a huge boon just by acknowledging your presence. Enough of these moments, and before you knew it you would find yourself immensely wanting to please him. He withheld praise like it was an endangered species, unfortunately it left people begging for his attention.

"Hello Ryann," he said politely at me.

"Hello Alpha," I said coolly back. I hadn't called him father in a very long time and now was no different.

"You look better than I thought you would considering you were assaulted and shot this week," he said in a tone that was relaxed and nonchalant, as uncaring and unfeeling as ever.

I had several comments ready but kept them all to myself. I wasn't going to talk to him if I didn't have to.

"I'm sure you are curious why I wanted to see you. So let's just get down to business." I nodded at this, it sounded like the best idea to me. "As you know with the statements that Kyle left in the wake of her death, the tribunal has agreed to a hearing to readdress your punishment.

"I'm sure you can remember, all this couldn't have come at a worse time for the tribunal members. This time of the season is very busy for all of us, dealing with various projects that have come up within our own communities. So we have decided to make things a bit easier for everyone," he said in a bored tone. Kyle died at a very poor time for father, how horrible for him. Ugh, I don't think I can keep my mouth shut any longer. I looked around for something sharp.

"I do so appreciate you taking time out from planning your spring festival, to discuss my twenty year exile that might have been unjust. Really, I am humbled," I said bitterly, even adding in a bow. So much for remaining stoic and mature.

"Ryann, there is no need to you use that tone. You sound like a child acting out for attention. Can I continue?" His brow was arched and it reminded me so much of my own mannerisms I was forced to remember we were related.

I said nothing more and he took that as his cue to move on. "As I was saying, we thought we should lighten our load, so your full tribunal hearing has been suspended in favor of having a small hearing in your designated community council." He smiled at me then, waiting for the blow to hit. It was so much information, none good, that I felt almost dizzy. He moved my tribunal hearing to the next shape shifter council meeting, which if I remembered their normal schedule, was in two days.

"Couldn't strong arm the Tribunal enough father?" I bit out the last word with as much venom as possible. I continued with the verbal sputtering.

"Not like the power you have over the shape shifter council, now there you have everyone in your little pocket begging for scraps," I hissed, feeling the chip in my arm heating up.

"Everyone except for your Dominic. I guess he's not your Dominic anymore, but you get my drift," he retorted with a half sneer, half smile on his face. My face was turning beet red, thinking to myself it might be possible to combust from rage.

"That is because Dominic has a mind of his own and isn't afraid of you. How long has it been since someone came into your world that could take you down? We both know he could best you, his beast is almost as impressive as mine. One challenge from him, and everything you have worked for would be gone. Are _you_ afraid of him? Let me tell you, you should be," I said leaning in to speak quiet but angry.

"Well Ryann, you sure have changed during your time in exile. You are even more immature than when you left, which is saying something. You should watch what you say to me, I could end up being your savior or your executioner," he told me with a haughty smile, like some entitled asshole handing out judgment.

"I would hate to see something happen to your friends too, Cole is working with the Elite isn't he? And London being pregnant now, I bet it would be devastating if he lost his job now. How about Juke, he's at the Academy now, it would be a shame for him to get caught up in a scandal that would end his career." He picked up a paper and started reading it, as casually as if we were on a lunch date.

Stunned, I rose to leave knowing if I stayed a second longer I was going to kill him. Before I reached the door I said over my shoulder, "If you decide to move against me or my family, father, know that you will need to come in force if you intend it. I will not go down without a fight, I will not allow you to touch them, and it will be your face I focus on during the fight. It will be you that I exact revenge upon. Dominic might not be able to beat you but we both know that I can."

If he was going to accuse me of acting like a child, I was going to slam the door behind me like one. It rang loud and true, and to her credit Kitty didn't even look up from her computer.

**Trust**

Cole was waiting for me in the lobby, reading a magazine. He looked tired, I noticed, and I wondered if I should keep everyone away from me until this was all over. I couldn't protect everyone and myself at once. I need their input on the new hearing too much to let them go yet, I'd have to figure something out. I looked at him again and realized he was just pretending to read, he was actually sleeping, head lolled to one side.

Once I figured out what I was going to do with the council, I would do whatever I needed to get them to stay away. At least that was something I was good at.

"Hey there buddy," I said running my hand over his jaw. He lazily drew himself up and gave me hug.

"I don't smell any blood so I'm guessing you managed not to kill him," he said smiling at me and yawning.

"Just barely, it went far worse than I thought possible. We need to get everyone together to talk about it, something's come up and I need your input on how I should proceed. Can you get everyone to my apartment by about ten tonight? I'm going to call Ari see if he is available to go over some things with him immediately. Make it half past ten, I want to have time to sort my head before I talk to everyone okay?"

He looked worried. I gave him my best 'trust me and leave it alone stare' which he promptly ignored, why were all my best stares ineffective now?

"I'll give you till nine thirty, no later. Something bad happened in there, and I don't want to waste time by waiting for you to figure out how to keep us all away from it. Don't even think about arguing with me about this either Ryann, I can see you want to. I'll give you till nine thirty and then we will all be there to talk about it. London is going to flay me alive if I don't bring her, so don't ask me to leave her out of this either. I couldn't keep her away and you know it," he told me, covering all his bases. I looked at him and gave him a smile, a tear forming at my eye. I loved him so much, I missed him so much, I missed out on so much and here he was right in front of me fighting alongside me.

"You are a bastard you know that? How am I supposed to stay ahead of you if you think just like me? Nine thirty, now get me home so I can call Ari about tonight, you are going to have to up his pay for coming to me on a Sunday evening," I said, thinking there was no way they were paying him enough.

"Oh we are not paying him Ryann. He heard your story and refused payment, said he was going to do it because you remind him of his wife. She died, I think from an illness, I'm not sure what though, you'll have to ask Luca about it. He said in his profession, he helps out some pretty dirty people, and it would be nice to have some clean in his line of work. I'm going to give him a marker to use with all of us," he said shocking the hell out of me. I was not often at a loss for words but I had nothing to say now.

"That pretty big for him to have a marker with the group of us. You did tell him I was about as clean as a public toilet though right? He should know who he is helping," I said not comfortable with being described like that. It felt like false advertisement.

"Why don't you let us worry about how we see you? I think you would be surprised at who you are through our eyes." With that, in true Cole style, he teleported us right out of the lobby and into my kitchen.

I called Luca and Ari as soon as Cole left, and Ari was surprisingly willing to come to the apartment tonight. Luca did not like the fact that I told him he had leave once he teleported Ari here, he needed to wait and come with the others. I needed privacy, Luca's feelings be damned.

I took another shower, feeling like I couldn't get my father's stink off of me. I grilled a quick dinner of some steaks and veggies, and left it on the table for both of us. I took out some wine from the top cabinet, finishing off the rest of the Corona that I bought from earlier. I thought about packing up something to smoke but I would save that for after what I had to say to Ari. It would be a reward for telling him the truth.

"Hey Ryann," Luca said as he and Ari walked into the kitchen area from the side stoop. At least he had the decency not to pop right into the kitchen. Most creatures that held a decent amount of magic could teleport, as long as they were clear about where they were going. A vague idea of where to go and it wouldn't work. It was considered poor manners to pop into someone's office, but you could be brought up in front of the council for teleporting into someone's home without permission.

For the six of us, we usually ignored all proper manners with each other anyway, so we didn't put too much stock in it. Except for the bedrooms, those were off limits. Each one of us had walked in on something we would rather scrub from our memories permanently. We learned our lesson on that one long ago.

"Hey Luca, Hey Ari," I greeted each with a hug. "Thanks so much for coming here on such short notice. I grilled some stuff we can eat and talk at the same time since I have my mother's coming to check in with me later," I said throwing a glance at Luca. I let that hang in the air, but Luca wasn't picking up what I was putting down apparently because he was still standing there.

"Luca, you going to go over to Cole's?" I asked him. _Get the hint buddy and scram._ He scowled at me, I knew he was just stalling.

"Come on Luca just give it rest today. I have had a monster of a week, I need to talk to Ari, and I promised Cole I would tell you all later okay? Nine thirty," I said and gave him my version of the soft eyes, he never denied those.

"Nine thirty," he grumbled and left through the door.

"Have a seat," I pointed towards the dining room. I thought about just staying at the little kitchenette, but decided on the larger table. Plus I may have nervously made way too much food to keep my hands busy that it wouldn't fit over there.

We dug in, I poured him and me the rest of the wine, and I could tell that Ari wasn't sure if he should start talking or not.

"I'm sure Luca told you that I met with my father this afternoon, and what he said was the reason I had to get everyone together. He told me that due to bad timing, busy schedules, and what I think is a strategic power move, he arranged for my tribunal hearing to be done at the next shape shifter council meeting. Which is in two days." I cringed at my lack of time, Ari mirrored the look on his own face.

"You said you think it is a power play, how?" He had his pad out and the tape recorder, getting down to business.

"Do you have to record this?" I asked cautiously.

"It helps me to go back and listen again. There are things that we miss the first time around, and listening to it again fills in some gaps. Is that a problem?" I stared at him for a moment. He didn't look flustered at my hesitation, he actually exuded confidence.

"As long as you don't store them," I told him.

"I usually do but if a client requests I can have them destroyed after the case is over," he said, like it wasn't a problem to do it.

"I would appreciate that. You can continue, I'm very sorry, I am just professionally...paranoid." I tried to give him a small smile, feeling appreciate he was so willing to put up with me.

"Back to your father, why do you think that he wanted to move the hearing? What advantage might he gain from it?"

I thought before I answered, "I think he wants to keep me chipped. It's possible that he didn't have enough clout in the tribunal to secure the vote, and so he moved it to the shape shifter council meeting instead. He is Alpha of the werewolves and the council chair, so he has much more control over them."

"How could he keep you chipped, with all the evidence I have seen it looks like you were set up?" he said looking confused.

He was good with the questions, I felt at ease. "That is the part that is the least clear. Do you know how the chips work?" I asked, my turn for the questions.

"From the council documents, it looks like it feeds your blood a constant stream of magic to counter your own. In your case it suppresses your vampire, preventing you from feeding or feeling bloodlust. It also leashes your beast, preventing you from changing into your wolf, supposedly," he said succinctly getting the basics and the nuances that it didn't quite work with me.

"Very true. Any magical creature who commits a crime can he sentenced to being chipped. It usually only results from repeat offenders, or for very serious crimes. Overall, it is a very effective deterrent. The feeling of being cut off from the magic is disturbing, unnatural, and very depressing. Because of this, the suicide rate is very high. So high that we don't do executions anymore, most who are chipped for a long time, or who are sentenced for life, choose to end theirs long before that point." I cringed that I had thought of it, the beginning of my sentence was not a good time for me. But, I am far too stubborn and vengeful to go through with anything like that.

"Do you think your father wants you dead then?" Ari asked with some hesitation. It was a good question and I hated that it was a possibility, a good possibility.

"I think he is too concerned for his image to want me dead. He is the father of one of the strongest magical creatures in existence. It provides him a sense of power, and elitism, that he uses like a weapon. There are some that respect him for siring such a strong daughter, just as there are some that fear what I can do and if he were to use me to his advantage," I said.

"What advantage would you be, if he put you in this position in the first place?" he asked. "I was told he was instrumental in getting you chipped in the first place."

This was the part where I was the most unsure. "I think he knows that my chip is not strong enough to keep my shared dominance in check. As you saw the other night, my fangs can come out and I do need to feed on blood. I cannot change into my wolf, but I can produce some claws. I haven't had to really push it, but I could still do damage. I believe he thinks this will be enough to keep me in check. Where he goes from there I am as lost as you. My best guess was that he thought I would be allegiant to him if he was my savior and granted my chip to be removed. Which would happen over my dead body."

"So, you think he is too afraid of your power right now?" he surmised accurately, it was what I was thinking as well.

"Oh yes, in the four years at the Academy it became clear I was a warrior the likes of which hadn't been seen before in a student. In the nearly ten years after I graduated, I was the leader of a special Elite task force. We worked independently, contracted in to jobs that the Elite and the community guards needed done but were too dangerous for them to successfully attempt. We did every job they didn't want to do.

"We were pulled in for hostage situations, rogue exterminations, bodyguard detail on kings and queens, and security for events. Every job they had that was high risk, we got. We never lost a member, never failed a mission. We were feared and revered in equal parts, but for the most part we were considered heroes." And I missed it fiercely, not really realizing it until now that I lacked that fulfillment out here.

"Do you think you were too good at what you did?" he asked smartly. It was the same thing I had asked myself a million times, if that was the reason I was targeted.

"I think I put a target on my back, absolutely, and I could have named about thirty different people that would want to set me up before I even thought that Kyle would," I told him, feeling still bitter about it.

"If it makes you feel better, going over everything, I would not have thought it would be her either. She doesn't fit the profile. She showed no previous signs of sabotage, or outward anger towards you. She was popular and well liked. She had her own group of friends, her own job. So why you? Why that mission?" he asked scribbling furiously on the legal pad in front of him, it made me curious what his own theories were.

I didn't know what to say to that, it was the same question I also kept returning to as well. He must have sensed my lack of an answer, because he steered the conversation towards something else.

"Can we talk about Kyle's now? I think understanding her role in all of this will be crucial to figuring out who set you up. I don't get the sense you think it was only Kyle behind this," he asked me with a hint of hesitation. He looked so hopeful, so eager to help me that had the urge to tell him everything.

"I think this goes far beyond sibling rivalry, if that's what you are suggesting. I always thought that she was being used by someone or some other group, and it's the reason I have been investigating her vampire connections while in exile," I admitted to him. If he was surprised at my activities, he was hiding it well.

"You were investigating from the outside?" he countered quickly, eyebrow raised but not looking too shocked.

"Yes, but I didn't get far, I had to be very cautious about asking questions. What I do know, is that she was used, whoever set me up used her feelings for me to do their dirty work. I have a feeling it leads back to vampires, but I can't be sure. I'm sure you have heard about her erratic behavior leading up to her death. There was something going on with her, something not right," I said memories of her came back and I had to hide a shiver at the last encounter I had with her.

"Did you have any direct contact with Kyle directly while in exile?" he asked, putting down his pen and paper to look at me. I had some contact with her, and if he dug in the right places he would know that too. He asked the question like he knew the answer already, which meant he wanted me to say it. Well shit, there was no turning back now.

I took a deep breath. "I think we both know I was in contact with her since I was the one that killed her."

**The Spirit House**

"How long have you known it was me?" I asked him.

"Since I first got the case I thought it was a good possibility. Then I saw you that night with Dominic, and I thought it was more than likely you were capable of doing it. I was reading the interviews from the council member who found her, they said it looked like she was killed somewhere else, but the way she said it indicated that it would be strange. I almost missed it, but she was saying Kyle was killed on the outside, not on this magical plane. The pathology said the fang site was small, indicating a young vampire, and the body was drained efficiently, left on the council lawn as a message to someone. I put that together with you, a highly skilled and trained fighter who was living on the outside with plenty of motive to want her dead," he said not giving me much on how he felt about it. I said nothing, I wanted to see where his head was at. Ari kept going, noticing my hesitation.

"I want to be clear, I think you were well within your rights to do what you did. She destroyed you and hurt your friends, I wouldn't have done the same, but I understand it," he said carefully. I still said nothing. I was stuck between deciding what to say and what to do. I realized I wanted to tell him what had happened, I wanted him to not think of me as a monster, and that fact made me very scared of the attachment I was forming to him.

"Can we talk about the kind of contact you had with her when you were gone?" he asked me, interrupting my silent debate. He really wanted to still help me? I decided not to let it go to waste, he didn't strike me as the type to do anything he didn't want to do.

"When Cole came to me and told me Kyle had left letters in her will detailing her role in that night, I was shocked. She was never apologetic to me the few times we talked. She never seemed like she was sorry for how everything happened, in fact she seemed quite the opposite.

"I ran into her at an exile rave down south one night, about three years ago, and she went out of her way to mess with me. She looked at me with extreme satisfaction over my situation, and in the time after, she sent me letter after letter. I threw most of them away after the first one, I refused to read the majority of what she sent to me.

It was maybe a year, year and a half later, when she started with a different tactic, telling me how well everyone was getting along without me. How Dominic was moving on, how he was dating again. How Cole and London were starting to get serious with each other, how well Juke was doing working at the Academy. When I still didn't respond, she amped it up, saying how it was my fault I lost the baby. It was mean and hateful, and looking back I believe intended to remind me why I should stay away from everyone. A reminder of how much I had destroyed. I didn't need her adding to my guilt, I was drowning it already. It is still holding me under.

"I wasn't sure at that time that it was really her writing them, my instinct now says it was her. The last time we talked, she had approached me was outside my tent in New Mexico. I have no clue how she managed to find me. She was high on something I think, spewing hate filled rants at me and making no sense. She passed out and I let her sleep it off in a small backup tent I carried with me. The next morning, I woke up and found her with a gun pointed to my head. She had me pinned and was going on and on about how there was no other way, she had to kill me. She said that I had to be dead, that she would never be anyone with me still alive, being in exile wasn't enough for her. She said she and Dominic would never get to be together with me still here on this earth. She pulled the trigger, but luckily for me, she never turned the safety off. She always was horrible with weapons, I always had to walk her though it when we were out on missions," I said with an obvious shudder thinking about how close she came to killing me, to ending me for good.

"I got her disarmed and then drained her on the spot, not taking any chances given her mental state. I felt no remorse, no loss, and I had no hesitation. This is the person you are helping Ari. I am not a good or clean person, and you should think again about being a part in this. I tend to ruin people's lives if you haven't noticed." He looked at me throughout my speech, and I was surprised in what I saw back.

"I don't think you have a good self-image Ryann. It seems to me like you have plenty of people around you that look at you and see something else. As far as Kyle goes, it sounds like a straight case of self-defense. Why didn't she show signs of this anger earlier? She never tried to sabotage you before?" he asked thankfully keeping me on task instead of getting lost in the memory of killing my sister.

"She had been planning that night for a long time, I don't believe she wanted it to go bad. She had to be careful and do it right. Immortality is a long time Ari, we have the time to execute something like this," I explained. He looked thoughtful, his scribbling turned to shorter notes.

"I was responsible for my team, for my friends, my family. I should have seen Kyle was unhappy, should have noticed that she slipped something into my drink that night. I should have felt the bloodlust coming on, once I was inside the house. I should have insisted someone else sweep the house with me, I was too cocky in my own abilities and I missed enough that they suffered. I should have had enough control not to attack my friends, not to open fire on everyone. Kyle had her part in it, sure. But my part was bigger, and I will forever be haunted by why I did." Ari took a deep breath out, and internal battle I could see was playing behind his eyes.

"Can we go back to that night? Can you outline what happened?" he asked, a clear nervous tone to his voice. I didn't want to but there was no point in holding back now, for some reason I had to tell him everything.

"We had just been on a very successful mission clearing out a vampire rogue hideout in the human realm. The vamps were living above a crock psychic storefront in Lexington, Kentucky called The Spirit House. We eliminated the vamps there, only finding three, then checked out the surrounding area and came back home. As per our typical afterwards, we went home, cleaned up, and went out to celebrate. We hit up D's, and we were a few drinks in when we got the call. Kyle approached me and said we needed to get back to The Spirit House because the vamp backups were just arriving," I said feeling my hands start to shake. This was getting tough to get through, I got up and reached under the sink grabbing my piece and bag of weed. I began packing up my new piece when he interrupted me.

"In your statements from the council you say you and your team saw no signs that any more people were living or working in the area. Were you skeptical that you missed something that big?" he asked continuing to make notes.

"Yes, I was very surprised. Kyle and I went over all the information regarding the logistics of the building beforehand, the witness testimony from the area, and the number of murders they were attributing to this gang of rogues. It all fit in, nothing to indicate we missed something bigger." It was only me that missed something, and it wasn't from the rogue information.

"Did you think you drank too much to go back and check things out? Did it cross your mind that you might be too buzzed to go back?" he asked honestly. I had asked myself that same thing so much after that night, it played like a broken record in my head the following week in prison.

"It didn't enter my thoughts then, no. I know my limits very well. I have had plenty of time to think about this and I don't think, if the drinks were not laced, I would have had any problems that night." It was a small comfort, nothing substantial but I knew I wasn't drunk. He made a nod to continue, still writing.

"I started to feel funny when we arrived a couple of streets over from our target. It wasn't very intense, just like I was focusing very hard on something that was fuzzy to me. I felt light and heavy at the same time. I have done many, many drugs over the last seven years Ari, and I have never been able to duplicate it. I think she drugged me just to spell work me during the mission without me catching on. I think the drugs were a screen for whatever magic she was doing on me, or having someone do to me," I said taking a hit from my piece and letting the feeling settle into me.

"You never mentioned this during the hearing. They are going to want to know why you had a sudden change in thinking." His brow was pinched as he was staring at me, I felt just as confused as he was.

"It was a theory I was working on while in exile, but it was a feeling I got after I woke up in the hospital. It was like a magical hangover, I thought at first it was from whatever was in my system and then I started to realize it was more. It was why I ran with Chi for a while, I was trying to figure out what she gave me. I soon realized he didn't have too much of a hands on dealings in drugs. He reaped the benefits from those that worked for him, but he didn't know pot from crack. Once I got into the magical drugs, I was even more confused, nothing I have tried has ever had the same effect.

"I just wanted to know about human drugs and magical drugs and how they can be used. I never figured out what I was slipped, so my logic is that it was just a screen for the magic. Plus if I had something in my system, and I hit my bloodlust like that normally, I would burn through any drug or alcohol. I stayed crazed for almost twelve hours. I have never been in it that long," I admitted almost shamefully, Ari gave me an encouraging smile, not letting me get embarrassed.

"Can you continue on with what happened?" he asked me. I nodded and continued.

"I did a sweep of the house, cleared the business storefront and then moved upstairs. I saw no one. Not one clue someone had just been their either. I was starting to feel a bit dizzy then, my vision was blurring but after a second or two it seemed to clear up. It felt like I was underwater, sounds and voices seemed like they were coming in from far away. It was strange but I was too cocky to say anything to anyone, I just thought I overdid it a bit at the bar.

"I went back outside, telling my crew there was no sign of anyone being there. They looked puzzled, and we all went inside to get out of the street and talk about what to do next. It was at that point I asked Kyle to call into Elite headquarters to see who gave them the information about backup coming to the house. We all assumed they got the location wrong, just a cross of the wires or something," I closed my eyes, so clearly remembering what happened next, and dreading having to retell it to him.

"I've read what happened when you all went back into the house, but I would like for you to tell me what you experienced. If that's okay," he asked kindly. I took a long drag from the piece, taking my time letting the smoke back out.

I was looking at Ryann and wondering if she was going to keep it cool during this. I had no desire to take the place Dominic held the other night. While I couldn't take my eyes off her then, I was no idiot. I couldn't keep her contained, and that was why I asked Luca to hang out by the side door for this in case she went nuts. It was the first time I felt that I was betraying a client, but I had her best interest in mind. I didn't want to give her any more reason to succumb to the guilt of doing something she would regret. She took a long drag of her bowl and continued.

"We entered the storefront from the back door, and went right up into the residence at the top of the stairs. I was leading the pack, and by the time I reached the last stair, the rogues were coming from everywhere above us. There had to be at least ten rogue shape shifters and three vamps. The shape shifters were mostly werewolves, but there were two jaguars I could see amongst them. The shifters were coming out of all sorts of hiding places, from closets, behind furniture, and even under couches. The cats were perched atop some of the furniture, and were using this advantage to jump down on us. It was complete chaos, we were easy pickings for the first couple of minutes.

"Everyone that shape shifted changed within a few seconds. We fought and killed about eight of them in the living room area, Kyle had taken down one of the vamps in the kitchen area. The two jaguars, and two of the werewolves, were all that remained and we chased them down into the storefront area. This is where things get really hazy for me. I do not remember going downstairs at all. I remember the neon lights on the front window, they were blinking on and off and it hurt my eyes for some reason. Then it was like there was cotton in my ears, and I couldn't make out any voices, only deep or high sounds with no way to determine what was being said.

"Having my senses dulled like that sent my beast into a panic, and when I was turning my head back and forth to focus my vision I saw rogues where I should have been seeing my team members. There were several in front of me, and some here and there flanking my sides. I could feel my adrenaline rising, triggering my magic, and I remember feeling my fangs elongate as my vampire attributes heightened, I couldn't keep the two separate at all, and I entered my hybrid form.

I could feel my claws come out and I remember being surprised that my fur had sprouted on my arms and chest. My legs elongated and I could feel the same fur sheathing them. I had only twice before done the hybrid change, being half vamp and half wolf. It was the first time though that I didn't intentionally get that way, the times before I had willed it so and it was never that strong of a meld. This time my body just took over." She was holding her drink so tight in her hands, her knuckles were white. I reached out and removed it, replacing it with my own hand. She was going to smash the glass and cut her hand to pieces.

"Is this the point where you think someone worked some magic on you?" I asked her.

"Yes. It takes a lot of concentration and restraint to get my body to pick both forms at the same time. I tried for years before getting it at the Academy, and even then it wasn't that impressive. The second time I almost killed Luca, he volunteered to enter the cage when I was attempting it and I had a hard time coming out of it. He was the only reason I didn't succumb to bloodlust and go crazy, his voice and Dominic's were the only thing that stopped me." I nodding remembering when Luca told me the story a few years ago. It was when we were oversees, having downtime in between missions, and his hands shook when he retold me the story.

"The council reports say you don't recall the events that came next. Is that true?" I asked, feeling like she was always holding something back. Every time I talked to her she was so careful, so measured. I wouldn't put it past her to leave out major parts of this story to protect herself, or her friends, but I needed to know everything if I had a hope of protecting her.

"I can call up different images, me opening fire on group of what I thought were vamps, I know now it turned out to be Cole and Kyle. I remember having some hand to hand combat, which turned out to be an actual rogue wolf. He was the one that shredded my midsection and arm. I do not remember what happened directly after that, but they say I attacked Kyle and she opened fire on me, I took two bullets to the heart, almost died right then," she said looking at her hands like she could still see the blood on them. This had to be so hard for her to tell me. Shit, I looked at her and saw she was fighting being sick. I knew some men from my unit who hadn't gone through a quarter of what she has had to.

"Do you think she was trying to kill you?" I wondered aloud. I didn't think so, but I was curious on her opinion of it.

"No, I don't. She was always a bad shot so I actually think she was aiming for my shoulder or arm and happened to hit my chest. In my mind, she was trying to maim me, I think she wanted to be the savior of everyone, taking down her out of control sister, saving the mission, saving every one's life. When she saw she hit my heart, not only once, she looked sick and shocked. I don't think it was ever her plan for this to go as far as it did. She just wanted to outshine me, not kill me. Kyle was even there when I woke up in the hospital. She had a look of genuine remorse on her face." Ryan drifted off, looking lost in her thoughts of the past. I hated being the one to dig up her demons like this. It still didn't explain much of what happened that night however, and I addressed my concerns.

"While I agree with your theories and it does explain the drugging and the possible magical sabotage, it leaves so much to the imagination. Hearing everything, I must conclude Kyle had known about the rogues being there. I think Kyle and the rogues were two parts of the same plan, and I suspect by now you do as well.

"They either hid very well from you when you did your sweep of the building, or she gave them a signal to enter when you all were heading back in. Do you have any theories on that one?" Something wasn't right about this whole thing, I could just feel it, and my instinct was never wrong.

"I believe that Kyle was working with someone or some other group to bring me down. They must have used her insecurities to convince her to do it. I have a gut feeling, nothing concrete, that it was vampires behind this. They were her chosen community, like I chose to be with my father's pack and the shape shifters, Kyle chose the vampires. In her community, I was a formidable weapon and to them I chose the shifters over the vampires to align with.

"They have hated me ever since. If you ask them now, the vampires consider me an abomination and they would like nothing better than to take me down a notch. Beyond that, it's just a hunch really," she said with a resigned sigh. It made sense and they were the most likely suspect. We had no evidence to back up what we were thinking, or what motive they may have had.

"In your dealings on the outside, did you find anything more substantial to go on?" I asked, really hoping she did.

"None. I had to be too careful out there, and I didn't get to use my special skill set," she said sounding defeated. When I arched my brow at her she added, "You know, beating the shit out of them until they told me the truth. It was always very effective." She had a smile that could only be described as mostly psychotic, but I found myself smiling back. There was something about her that I had a hard time forgetting, even when it was clear I should be scared, I found myself more and more attracted to her.

"Well, if we can focus on getting a good outcome for the hearing, then we can begin with your plan," I said mirroring her smile with my own.

**Favors**

Ari looked over at me, his smile was verging on predatory. I could tell he really wanted to help me, and I had felt alone for so long it was both scary and comforting to find an ally in all this chaos. I looked at the clock, it was nearing eight already.

"I would finish up whatever food you want to eat now, by the time everyone gets here it will be gone," I told him. We both dug in for a bit and finished off what we wanted to.

"Before the rest come, I wanted to talk with you about what I want to tell them." He didn't look surprised. He already knew I held my cards close, and as my father would say, it's the only way to win.

"You don't want them to know about Kyle do you?" I didn't but I was going to take it a bit further, this went far beyond the knowledge I killed my sister.

"I do want them to know about her, but I want to change my story a bit. I need them to back off from me. If things go south, if the wrong people get wind of what I'm after, they could be in danger. My ridiculous sister put them in enough danger seven years ago, and I will not be the reason they get hurt again." I will never let that happen to my family again, even if it means I won't be there to see them.

"I don't think I follow Ryann." He looked genuinely confused.

"This cannot leave this room, but my father threatened them directly. I can never prove it, but if I don't play this right he could ruin the lives they have built for themselves. I can't let that happen, and they will never willingly leave me alone.

"I'm going to tell them I hunted Kyle down and killed her. Before I knew for sure she was a part of it of course. I'm probably going to do more to get them to leave me alone. It won't be pretty Ari, I'm going to do some horrible things but make no mistake but I will enjoy it none the less. It's the person I am, it's the monster I am, it's the monster my parents created me to be," I said being more dramatic about it than I needed to be. He looked at me with sad, mournful eyes. I needed him to understand what I was doing. I just needed one person to understand, and then I could carry it out.

"I will not see them hurt again, I will not put them in a position to get hurt again. London is pregnant, and I will protect that baby with everything I have. Nothing will touch them and if they try I will burn their world down around them.

"I need them to stay away from me until they take this chip out. If they choose to leave it in, or if I get an inkling someone is on to me, I'm gone. I will disappear, and never have my face show in the light of day here again. I am not being dramatic, I am not being over cautious. I saw what I did to them that night, I saw Cole in the hospital before they took me away to face sentencing. I saw him, on the bed, wires hanging from everywhere," I said hearing my voice breaking.

"He had every med mage within a ten mile radius chanting over him while London sat in the corner chair rocking back and forth. We have known each other since we were practically babies Ari. He was my first everything, the first person to show me love. He taught me how to play guitar and now he can't even hold one still long enough to play." I could feel the tears slipping, I should slow down but it would have been like trying to stop the rain. It was coming regardless of what I did.

"Everything I did to him is on me, they were the bullets from my gun, shot from my own hand. No amount of sabotage can take that away from me and my conscious. I attacked Juke, I attacked Dominic, I attacked Luca. Luca, mighty vampire Luca, couldn't even hold me down that night. They had to secure me in the building while I gorged myself on every last drop of blood from the corpses that were stuck in the same room as me. If I close my eyes I can still taste their dead flesh in my mouth.

"Then they had to tie me in silver chains, and put me in a cage until I was coherent enough to follow instructions. I woke up in the hospital the next evening, barely alive at all." I did not want to talk about the baby. I was praying he saw that I was only hanging on and not ask about it.

"My family got hurt because I didn't figure it out in enough time to protect them. Theirs are the faces I see in my nightmares, and I am the monster that is chasing them." I earned every last tear that left my eyes, and it left me unable to feel sorry about shedding them.

"I think you are making a mistake in doing this, but I cannot fault your reasoning. I will back you up as much as I can," he said with strong confidence. It was at this point I knew Ari was a stand-up guy. I took a lot of guts to face everything he was facing at the moment and I was grateful he was deciding to help me.

"That's good Ari because I am going to ask you for a huge favor…again."

He looked at me cautiously, "Another orgy?" he asked with a laugh. I was good at reading people but I wasn't sure how this was going to go over.

"I have to do something a little drastic to get them to back away. I would like for it to look like I was draining you when the others come in. I will not let it get that far, I will keep you safe, but it needs to look like I'm going to kill you. I would not ask this if I didn't think it would keep everyone away from me. I need them to want to keep their distance." He looked like he did not want to say yes, and I didn't blame him.

"Please Ari. I have to keep them out of this, please help me with this." Begging was not my forte, I don't think I had ever done it before.

He nodded, looking a little green, and we spent the next ten minutes outlining the plan. It was a simple one, I would drink and he would try and look passed out. Ari got up to use the restroom and I was stuck at the table trying to figure out how to kill the time before doing something I really was dreading.

Ari came back into the kitchen and I suggested we go into the living room. He sat on the couch and I sat in one of the armchairs facing him, we looked like a stereotypical bad date. No one was saying anything, and we were avoiding each other's eyes.

"Can we just hang out?" I asked him. I wanted to feel like human before doing what I was going to do next.

"Sure how about some strip poker?" He suggested, and I laughed at his silliness. I was thankful he was trying to lighten the mood, hoping he was just joking, or I might take him up on it.

"That would mess with the plan don't you think? I saw a few music notes in your sleeve tattoo, you play something?" I asked letting my natural curiosity take over. I had the absurd idea that if he also played guitar his hotness level would rise to an unmanageable level, perhaps my panties would just fall off on their own,

"I play piano and guitar, but I also hear you play very well Ryann," he replied, a small smile decorating the side of his mouth.

"I do, but this stupid cast gets in the way." I scowled at the pink monstrosity they called a cast.

"Grab the guitar and come here, we can try something," he told me patting the seat next to him.

I went into the bedroom and grabbed the guitar, slinging the strap over one shoulder. I sat down next to him, looking for further instructions.

"I used to teach guitar lessons to the mentally handicapped, and this usually helped them," he explained and flinched realizing what he had just said.

"Was that an insult?" I asked playfully back, knocking his shoulder with my own.

"I'll show you," he said in reply. He moved me closer to him, we were sitting on the couch now my back to his front. He placed me in the crevice of the couch in front of him, so that he could reach the top of the guitar while I strummed on the bottom.

"You want to play something in particular?" Ari asked me. I could feel his breath moving the hair on the side of my neck, near my ear. It was sending goose flesh down my arms in waves. This was probably a bad idea in hindsight, but to hell with it now.

"Blackbird," I managed to squeak out. It was the first song I learned from Cole, one of the first songs I ever really loved.

We started to play, and I realized more of him was touching me than I thought when I first sat down. The first couple of songs went nicely, and after a while we played in a good rhythm. It was exhilarating sharing this with him. Music was always so important to me, I felt like I was getting just a sliver of the old me back.

We were touching in so many places now it was getting out of hand. I needed to do something but my body wasn't getting the message, every chord change and strum brought my body even closer to his own. He started playing some Clapton, and I knew we were in trouble. He got to Layla, singing some of the lyrics in my ear, breathy words hovering just a half an inch from my neck. It was intoxicating. He finished the song and leaned down to kiss the hinge of my jaw, planting strategic kisses down my neck. He dropped the guitar to the floor at our feet, it clanged to the ground and neither of us made a move to cushion its fall.

I could feel his erection at my back, it jutted into me, demanding my attention. He ran his hand down my side and reached up to cup one breast, continuing to kiss down the other side of my neck. He had to move my hair to reach some spots, and he lingered and played with it in the process. There was something about him playing with my hair I found so erotic. How my clothes didn't incinerate on contact was a wonder to me. His hand dipped lower to the elastic of my shirt, dipping a finger in to play with the lace at the top of my underwear.

He started to turn me around, and we shared a kiss that would have made even me blush. He was surprisingly rough with me, giving me just as much as I was giving him. It was as if our mouths were in a battle for dominance, and at the moment he was winning. I was being brought to my knees, for the first time in a long time, by a human.

His hand dropped from my jaw to the back where my bra would have been attached, had I been wearing one. I heard him groan, but grin back to me like a kid on Christmas morning. I broke contact and stared at him, his eyes were such a dark blue, they were mesmerizing. There was so much lust in their depths, it was hard to concentrate on anything else, especially the fact that this was a bad idea.

"I am not known for my control Ari, and I am not a tease. If you continue that it will lead to where you think and I won't be strong enough to stop. You should know that." I really needed him to stop. I really needed him not to stop. I was coming to terms with the fact that I may just need him.

He reached out and cupped my face. "I have wanted you since the first time I saw you in the coffee shop. I am not sure I can stop if we start either, so we should make a good choice and stop," he said in a husky but broken voice. He was right, but hearing him say it didn't make my lady bits throb any less. It made him sexier, gods damn it all to hell.

I reached over and grabbed the guitar, using every last drop of restraint I had in my body to walk towards the other side of the room. It was like walking though quicksand, and when I finally sank down into the armchair across from him again I was relieved I made it.

"When this is over Ari, I am going to show you what immortality feels like, what it feels like to be so deep in someone you never want to get out. I don't even think after that it will be enough, so you better rest up now, a night will not be enough for me," I said to him. It was a vow, and his eyes flashed in recognition. He licked his lips and I started playing what songs I could accomplish, cast and all.

**Gone**

I looked around my apartment, at the pitiful faces all around me. Juke and London were talking about baby names, and I was hoping to the gods London didn't take any of his suggestions. They were atrocious, I wouldn't even name my dog some of his suggestions.

Luca had returned, after listening in on them and not hearing anything alarming, and now he was currently washing dishes in the sink. Dominic was flat out pacing the floor between the kitchen and the dining room, pausing every now and then to tell Juke he had lousy taste in names, thanks the gods someone else had sense enough to tell him.

I was watching the minutes tick on the clock by the entryway, pretending that I was looking at paint swatches for the baby room. How many fucking shades of gods dams gray can one company make? It was ridiculous. Everyone was pretending not to be anxious at whatever Ryann wanted to say to us, but we could guess part of it, and that part worried me a good deal.

Dominic spoke up when he first got there with some news he heard, he didn't even get fully into the kitchen before he started talking.

"I heard from some office gossip that Ryann's hearing is going to be in front of my council in two days. Stone convinced everyone they were all too busy to fit it in for the tribunal, so he volunteered our council to take it up at the next meeting. In two days!" he bellowed as he walked into the kitchen. I told him not to yell, but it fell on deaf ears.

"Sorry but what a stupid, stupid idiot jackass asshole! Who does that to their own daughter?" When we all just stared at him he held his arms out, expecting a good response to his tirade.

"I think it could be either really good or really bad," Juke said with a smile. Smart ass, I slapped the back of his head.

"Yes, we all know that captain obvious. Any feelings you get from talking to people Dominic?" London asked him, looking concerned. She looked so maternal, so lovely in that moment, I went over to her and hugged her. I kissed her confused face but said nothing. If anything, Ryann taught me to love when I could, not to wait to show it.

"I think this is a good thing in the long run. Ryann isn't universally loved, but shape shifts respect power and they respect strength, and she has that in spades. If she can keep her nose clean, I can see them granting a lighter sentence. I don't want to hope too much but I think they will take her chip out." London said, I wanted to hope too.

"In two days though, can you do anything about that?" Luca asked Dominic, echoing most of our reservations about the short time frame.

"I have already put in a petition to change the meeting to the following Tuesday. I am calling in every last favor I have to get someone to second me on it. Juke, can you help me out? Pick an issue at school and make a fuss about it. Keep Stone occupied with something tomorrow so I can coerce someone to agree with me. It only gives us a week, but anything helps," he said, running a hand through his hair. That was still not much time, but it was better than two fucking days.

"Can you imagine what she is going to do if she gets that chip out? It's going to be so fun to watch. I can't wait to get her back, whole, with all of us again." London said eagerly. She was smiling that bright smile I fell in love with. It was like watching the sunrise, and it never ceased to make my knees weak.

"I'm going to petition to have it taken out in the arena at school. It will be safe and controlled, the kids would love to watch her in action. It could be really educational for some of the hybrids, even if they have a dominant magic. We can put her in there with a few animals and watch what happens," Juke said with a feral smile. I was thinking the same thing. Watching her hunt was mesmerizing.

"Did you all hear anything about Malachi?" Luca asked, breaking our internal fantasies. I had been wondering the same thing. That dude was not right the other night. I would put money on the fact that he was high as a kite.

"I have not, but it takes a while to have an autopsy done," I answered. With all the magical components and spells to preform it took twice as long as human ones.

London interrupted us and suggested we play some poker to pass the time. Anything was better at this point than pacing like a pissed off parent at curfew time. We debated theories over what Ryann was going to say for a while. She could be so unpredictable, it was hard to tell what we were in for. I had a bad feeling about tonight, I hated to admit it. It wasn't a guess as much as it was an instinct. There were too many variables we were not sure of yet, too many bad people involved, and too many ideas in the air. It was like seeing an accident from very far away, but not being able to do anything about it.

I looked up to the clock and found it was nine thirty on the dot. After losing so much money to Luca, who seemed to be able to read tells better than any person alive, I folded my hand and we headed over to the apartment.

We popped onto the side stoop at the end of the ally beside the brownstone, it lead into the kitchen and gave everyone enough space to get it together before we came in. We didn't bother to knock, none of us ever did. I stopped when I realized something, I could smell blood, and a lot of it.

Luca cringed at the smell, growling low under his breath and exploding though the door. All I could think about was finding her like that again, that someone had attacked her, but there was one problem. I would notice the ward wasn't right, but it was firmly in place, I also didn't hear a struggle coming from inside, which was also not good.

We walked through the kitchen, glancing at the destruction in the dining room. Plates and glasses were shattered everywhere, dishes full of food had been flung at the wall leaving trails of food dripping down the wallpaper, splashing on the floor.

The table was askew, like someone had tried to tip it over or shove it out of the way. We were all still for a second, until we heard the sounds of feeding, of Ryann feeding. Luca must have heard something, because he sprinted into the hallway and stopped so short he caused the rest of us to crash into him from behind.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Luca roared. He was gone in the next second, having pinned Ryann to the far wall. I could hear the crack of her head, he really nailed the back of it. Things were going too fast to keep up with, it felt like my head was spinning. Then I saw Ari, London gasped next to me, shaking her head back and forth, hand glued to her mouth. I shoved her protectively behind me, unsure what state Ryann was in.

Ari's shirt was torn and he was pale as a sheet. Lying half propped up against the sofa, his head lolled to the side and I could see the bite marks on his neck. Gods. She didn't, she wouldn't attack him like that, it was just impossible.

"Put her down! What the hell are you doing Luca? Let her down!" Dominic yelled at Luca, his voice betraying how angry he was. I hoped to gods he didn't lose it now, the last thing we needed right now was a fight between the two of them.

"I will put her down when I figure out why she was about to drain one of my best friends," he said in Ryann's face through clenched teeth. I had never seen Luca this mad before, he never fought with Ryann, and I shook my head to clear it. Someone had to keep a clear head in situations like this, but it was harder than it sounded.

"Let her down, and she can explain," Dominic tried to say in his calm voice. It came out with a bit more malice than he was probably intending.

"Explain what Dominic? Did it look like the usual when we find her with a human, half-naked and exchanging blood? Is she spread out for him, did we intrude on a private moment between the two? Does he look like he is fucking enjoying this?" he asked, gesturing around. The last part was a bit harder to understand, considering Luca's fangs were fully out. When I realized what he said, I could see the pain on Ryan's face. He would never talk about Ryann like that, we all knew about her variety of sex partners but we never judged her for it, no less mentioned it.

"Is that how she was with you Luca? She always did like to feed while fucking, did she do that to you?" Dominic asked with a cruel tone, causing a feral snarl to come from Luca. This is not going well.

"She can let her vampire free with me Dominic, can you say the same? Man, fucking without letting that out must have gotten old for her. You know vampires are the best lovers, it's one of our special abilities. I'm sure she felt the same way with Cris." They were both panting and staring at each other. Gods, this needed to stop.

"...killed...Kyle..." Came a squeaky voice from the floor. Oh shit, what did Ari say? Luca must have heard, because he dropped Ryann to the ground and went over to Ari.

"Buddy, you look like shit. I couldn't really understand what you were saying amigo, could you try it again," he asked. He was trying to lighten the mood but his face was betraying his rage, he kept glancing and pinning Ryann to the wall with his stare.

"She killed Kyle, set everything...whole thing up, I confronted her about it..." Dominic paled the same time I did, realizing what must have happened. Oh no. No, no, no. I looked at Ryann but she was avoiding my eyes.

I never used my spells on my friends, I would never ever use one on Ryann, but before I knew it I air locked her into a standing position, arms at her sides. It was a powerful hold, and even with her chip out I knew she would have a hard time breaking it. I could smell blood from the cut on her head. It must have been from Luca, but at the moment I was glad it was there.

"London get Ari over to our place and heal him. Now." It was not a request, and she didn't bother to give her usual quip about being ordered around. I heard them pop out, and it was just me, the boys, and Ryann now. She was looking defiantly over at me. Her chin was tipped up like she was trying to hold onto every last drop of dignity in her body, it only made me even angrier.

"Explain yourself," was all I said to her. It was all I was capable of saying.

"Fuck off." She looked angry on top of everything, which sent the last of my control out the window. I applied some pressure to her throat. Not enough to cut off her air but enough for her to know I was not messing around. We needed answers yesterday. I let go of the pressure to her neck, and she took a deep breath in. Her eyes were teary but I knew it was from the air pressure, right?

"Fuck off, let me go," she said again, and this time I stopped the airflow altogether. Just as she was about to pass out I let her have it back, then repeated the process until she nodded her head she would talk.

"I killed Kyle," she said shrugging her shoulders, her voice came out raspy and I was starting to feel bad I put her throat through that. "I ran into her in New Mexico, and took advantage of an opportunity. It was a simple choice, she hardly saw me coming, and she never was as strong as me. Even chipped, I drained her in a few minutes, you idiots never even thought I could do that. I tracked down her lawyer, and threatened him too. Got those idiotic letters sent out and waited for them to send someone. They were so scared of me it took longer than I thought, I was starting to get worried." I was speechless, this wasn't really happening right?

"Then they sent you Cole, it was too easy. I was poor, weak Ryann again. She was set up this whole time, we feel so awful, let's bring her home. It was really heartwarming Cole, you and Juke taking care of me. I even had to let you all carry me around, like I was some broken doll. Did you really think I would really let you all do that?" She added a humorless laugh onto the end. She was sick, this couldn't be Ryann, not the one I knew. I was left with the feeling that the girl I once knew had the life beaten out of her, she wasn't ever coming back.

"Oh this is me Cole, don't look at me like that. The Ryann you knew is gone. She disappeared that night at The Spirit House. Appropriate name huh? My spirit is still there, searching for a body that will never come. Let me tell you that girl is gone, I just have to make it through the trial so I can get this fucking leash off and then I'm gone for good."

"You were going to leave?" Dominic asked on a whisper, the hurt betraying his face.

"Of course. Living on the outside is fun most of the time, no restrictions, and no one to tell me what to do. I can live like immortals should be living, free. I can dine on anyone I want whenever I want. Once I get this leash off, I can run free as a wolf and kill what I want. Best of all, I can fuck whoever I want." I felt sick listening to her, but unable to look away.

"You played us all? How could you Ryann?" This came from Juke, he looked like a kicked puppy.

"Of course I did, how was I supposed to get you all to help me convince everyone I was harmless. If you guys believed everyone else will too. Now let me go Cole, I have to grab my stuff and head on out. I need a good lay after all that blood." She patted her stomach like a human does after their thanksgiving meal. I was shaking my head, I just couldn't believe it.

I let her go to get her stuff from the bedroom. All three of us in the living room were standing still, eyes unfocused, trying to make sense of everything. She came back a few minutes later. We had never even moved the entire time she was gone.

"I'm going to stay on the outside tonight and tomorrow. I'll find a way to pop in for the hearing on Tuesday night." She looked relaxed, almost relieved that she would be gone.

"Dominic is going to move it to next Tuesday so you have a week. You can pop into the entrance next Tuesday at eight. I don't know if we will all be there, I can't speak for them, but I will try. I know Ryann is in there somewhere, and I told you once I would drag you back if you got lost. I am going to use the next week to convince myself you are worth it. Right now I can't remember if you are," I said with a cold voice, but with honest words.

She rocked back a bit at my words, but didn't say anything. She walked over to the side door turned around and said, "I'm going to D's. Don't bother talking to me. Do us all a favor and stay the fuck away from me."

**Pink Sparkly Hair Tie**

I was sitting on the bar stool, drinking what must have been my one hundredth jack and coke. On the last few, I told him to just hold the Coke. That whole confrontation was so much harder than I thought it was going to be. I had to pop two Xanax in the bathroom when I was getting my stuff just so I could go back out there. I would never forget their faces when I told them I killed Kyle. It wasn't shock, it was sadness. They didn't even question that I killed her, they were just sad that I turned out to be the way I am now. Sadness that the old Ryann was gone, no one even thought to question it at all.

They got that part right, sometimes things happen in life and you are never the same. I wasn't the same person who let their friends get hurt again, I was stronger than that. Even if I wasn't around for them, they would be safe.

That part hurt the worst. The only reason I could live with this was that I had asked for it, and I knew this would keep them safe. If anyone was after me, they would see the rift, and hopefully they wouldn't target them at all. If I could manage it, I could keep my head down until the hearing, come out on top, and deal with this mess at full strength. When I knew it was safe for them, I would try again, try to be one of them again.

"Go away Juke," I slurred out to him, having smelled him when he came in the door of the bar. I tried shaking my head awake, I needed to be aware enough not to fuck it up now by saying something asinine.

"I'm just dropping off something from London," he said flatly. I looked down and saw a cell phone on the table.

"Cole cut off your internal communication, but London wanted you to have this in case you needed us. It has all our numbers in it, including Ari's just in case you want to apologize." London was going to make an amazing mom. She always brought the redemption along with the guilt, she gave you a way to want to be better while acknowledging what you did wrong.

"Great," I said putting it in my pack. I kept my eyes forward, trying to look bored. I needed him to go. He stared at me for a minute then sighed. He left without a word, and thankfully I managed to make it through without running my mouth.

I ordered another drink, one that I was sure I was going to regret in a little while. It usually was time to stop when I started really craving the next one. Anything I consumed past that was always a bad call, but I wanted to erase this night from my memory.

I thought I heard someone call my name, and when I turned on my seat to look my body couldn't handle it. The next thing I knew I had fallen off my stool, I could hardly move from the floor when I heard his voice again.

"Ryann?" I heard finally, turning towards the voice to get a good look at him. Jason, boy he was a sight for sore eyes.

"How's the hammer Thor? You been usin' my lines?" I stammered out. I was starting to slur my words, those pills combined with the drinks were kicking my ass.

"You look like someone took a hammer to you babe. Leah should be here in a while, but I'm not sure you are going to make it to see her," he said to me, with a sympathetic look in his eyes. I must look really bad.

"I'm just doing what I do Thor, just doing what I do." It wasn't making any more sense in my head than it sounded out loud but I found it impossible not to keep talking.

"What is that you do mean?" he asked helping me to my feet.

"I am alone," I said summing things up nicely as he planted me on the stool again, sitting next to me. It made perfect sense to me, it was safer for everyone if I was alone. It was safer for me if I was alone.

"I don't think it makes sense for you to be alone. Why is it safer for everyone?" he asked me. Shit, I was saying my thoughts out loud, that my cue. Time to go.

"Can you teleport me somewheres on the outside Jason? I need. To gets out of here," I said disjointedly. Gods I was hoping he could understand me.

"Let me say goodbye to my crew and cash out my tab. I'll meet you out back in fifteen," he said, realizing I needed to leave.

"Thanks Thor," I said with a tiny giggle. I did not giggle, what the hell was wrong with me? I promptly gathered my things and headed out the side door, muttering apologies to everyone I nearly ran over in the process.

Once outside, I took a few deep breaths of the spring air. It was windy, that was probably the reason I didn't smell my attacker from the other day a few yards from me. I continued down the alley heading in a zig zag pattern towards the back patio when I finally smelled him.

I whirled around, dropping my pack and keeping my hands up in front of me. My drunken arms were not obeying me however, choosing to hang limply by my side and flailing sometimes to come up by my chest when I tried to move them in a defensive position.

"You look like you are in worse shape than before, and that is saying something considering how I left you the other day. I'm guessing your little friends aren't so happy to have psycho Ryann back.

"I could have told you this would happen though, the weak do not understand the strong. They can't imagine what it is like to have that much power under your control. They will always be envious, angry at what you choose for your life." He was walking towards me still, at a slow and methodical pace. He knew I was no match for him now, why hurry?

"Sounds like you know from personal experience. Though I can't understand why, I got a few shots on you the other night. How powerful can you be?" I taunted back at him, unwisely.

At this brilliant observation, he decided to backhand me into the wall. He put so much force into it that I heard my head crack against it. My cheekbone was swelling at an alarming rate, I needed to have both my eyes open to see what was coming, so I knew I was in deep shit now. If I could focus out of my drunken haze long enough, I might be able to fend him off until Jason came.

"I would be careful speaking to me like that Ryann," He said t'sking me and twitching his finger and he hit me again. This time, the blows to the head combined with the alcohol made slink down the wall until I was in a pile on the ground.

"Your lover has been asking questions about me Ryann, trying to figure out who I am. Stop his digging, and I will allow you to live for your hearing. Fair warning, after that, if you continue to be a thorn in my side I will kill you. I will enjoy killing you so I am kind of hoping you will try to stay and fight me, it will make things much more enjoyable." I looked at him, noticing his erection. Ugh, how gross can one person be?

"Yeah, good luck with that buddy," I told him. Wow, what an amazingly witty response. I was too tanked to come up with anything worthwhile.

"I won't need luck, you will probably be drunk as a skunk then too."

"Even drunk I can still kick yours," I said as I fumbled into my jacket to reach my gun.

Suddenly realizing what I was reaching for, he pulled his own gun out and plugged two shots, one into each thigh. I managed not to scream out, my face was turning red and I growled low in my throat. There was no amount of alcohol that could make me give him the satisfaction of screaming.

"What a waste. You could have been an unstoppable weapon, you could have been so much more than a weak chipped hybrid, running from your past and wasting all your potential." With that he left me alone in the alley, bleeding onto the concrete.

Jason found me a few minutes later. He ran down the alley to me, stopping short when he looked at my torn pants.

"What the fuck?" He was so old, so beautiful and grand that cursing seemed wrong for him.

"Well, I got corned by an old friend, by friend I mean someone who beat the shit out of me last week, and we had a little chat. He gave me a warning and then shot each of my legs when I reached for my gun. He really is a sweetie." I realized the image of him was swaying. Probably not from the alcohol either.

As Jason started to pick me up, I motioned for him to put me down and I vomited in a very spectacular fashion into the drain by the wall. This was classy even for my standards. I grabbed the phone from the pocket of my pack and scrolled through the numbers. I got to Ari's and handed him the phone.

"Get his address, take me there." It was all I could manage to say, as I realized I was losing consciousness.

I heard the phone ring, what the hell time was it anyway? Someone better be dead to call me at two thirty in the morning, especially after the night I had.

"Hello?" I asked trying to keep the irritation out of my voice. If it was Mrs. Anderson again I was going to have to refer her elsewhere, her obsession with catching her husband cheating was getting ridiculous.

"Is this Ari?" His tone woke me up some, I had a feeling something was very wrong.

"This is he," I answered quickly.

"My name is Jason and I'm here with someone. Do you know a Ryann Stone? She's asking me to take her to you." He sounded worried about her, this must be bad.

"Yeah that's fine, I know her, what's going on?"

"She's bad man, I think she lost consciousness a little bit ago. Her face looks like someone worked her over, and she has a gunshot wound to each thigh. Are you magic? I don't sense it, and if you are human you will need some provisions. Gauze pads, tape, and some wash rags ought to cover it.

"I'm going to work my own healing on her, it should stop the bleeding some and speed up the healing on her legs." I wanted to ask him what he was, but decided on just giving him my address.

I spent the next few minutes frantically finding every last scrap of first aid gear I could find. I didn't know what shape she would be in when she got here.

Literally three minutes later, I head them show up outside my house. I owned a modest cape cod, bought when the market was so great I couldn't say no.

I could hear the caller knock and then come in, one look at Ryann and I was glad he decided not to stay too long outside the house. There was no telling how I was going to explain that away to the neighbors.

"Put her in the kitchen Jason." I had it all the set up in there, and if she bled all over the floor I could mop it up easily.

I had pulled my comfy computer chair into the kitchen and he sat in it, letting Ryann lie in his lap.

"What happened?" I asked as my Marine training took over, glad at this moment I was good under pressure. I cut her pants above the blood stains to get a better look at her wounds. I whistled under my breath, it looked like she was lucky enough and it missed her major arteries. Her left leg looked okay, but her right looked like the bullet hit bone.

"I think her right femur must be broken," I said looking to Jason as I went about dressing her wounds.

"Yes, I healed it best I could but I think she might be bedridden for the next two days. After that she should be fine, but her bones will be very sore for the next little bit. Knowing her she will have enough drugs on her to keep her comfortable, but I will leave my number in case you need me. I have to get back, tell her to call me, I put my number in her phone." He rose and transferred her into my arms. I could smell her, a blend of wild jasmine and vanilla. I turned and thanked Jason for helping her out.

"She needs to actually rest, even though she will insist she is fine, she's probably lying. Get her to talk to you a bit, she was going on and on at the bar about being alone. Something about protecting everyone. I don't know what's going on with her but she needs help. Just don't tell her I said that," he said with a wink and disappeared from my kitchen. It was still freaky to watch them teleport like that, especially in my own house, but it didn't make me dizzy any longer.

I looked at her again, she seemed peaceful and much younger than I knew her to be like this. I had to double check her birth date several times just to make sure I wasn't reading it wrong when I first read her file.

I took her to the bathroom and laid her in the tub, empty of its water. I went to the vanity and grabbed some washcloths. When I looked back to the tub I realized she was awake, eyes wide. I gave her a moment to collect her memories, I didn't want to spook her by rushing over. I came over to her slowly, like I would with a wild animal.

"You remember what happened Ry?" I asked her with a soft voice. She nodded back to me, tears filling her eyes. Trusting me was a gift for someone as guarded as she was, and it felt pretty damn good to receive it.

"I'm going to clean you up, I dressed your leg wounds but I need to clean the rest of you. I know you're not going to like it but I'm going to fuss over you and carry you around. If you try to stop me I'm going to call Luca and then we can fill him in on everything. You will listen to me, and obey, yeah?" I gave her a serious tone, but I tried to sound gentle. She nodded again at me. I didn't blame her lack of speech, I doubted many people talked to her the way I had.

I started by stripping her down to her bra and underwear, forgetting from earlier that she wasn't wearing one. I didn't want to freak her out, so I had to stare at her wounds like a weirdo to keep from getting hard. Even covered in blood she looked amazing. I cleaned all the blood off her legs, and then decided to not push it and clean off her face, avoiding her chest and its dangers.

She had her eyes locked on me. It looked like she was anchoring herself to me. I held her eyes, giving her every bit of strength I had. I looked away briefly, only to wipe away the blood from her cheek. She sucked in a breath at the touch, it had to hurt.

When I got her as clean as I could, I rummaged through my vanity for a hair tie. My brother had stopped by the other weekend with my nieces, and they always seemed to leave them behind. It was pink, and sparkly, but I didn't think she would mind. I stood behind her in the tub and pulled her long hair on top of her head. I ran it though the elastic as best I could, I had done it on my nieces before, but on a grown woman it was a bit awkward. It kept it out of her face and off her back so I considered it a success.

'I'm going to pick you up and take you to my room. I'll give you a T-shirt," I told her as we made our way into my bedroom. It had the biggest bed, I could take the couch.

"A shirt would be a good idea. Can't have you losing control and taking advantage of me, my reputation would be ruined," she said in a fake southern accent. I laughed and put her down on my bed, taking care to make sure her legs landed in a comfortable position. I grabbed the biggest fucking T-shirt I could find, I needed her as covered up as possible.

"I can get it," she said as I threw her the black shirt. "Guns and Roses huh?" she asked eyeing it.

"It's Guns and fucking Roses to you missy. Show some respect." She laughed slightly, I considered it progress.

She put it on and I released the breath I was holding. I couldn't see her bare breasts and still stay on this side of the room.

"I'll be out on the couch, I sleep light so if you need to get up just yell at me." I started to walk off towards the couch when she said a light thank you to me. I didn't think she needed to be alone, but I didn't want to push her. She had enough to deal with as it was.

I went to the linen closet and grabbed some blankets and a pillow for the pull out couch. I laid down, exhausted and jazzed at the same time. It wasn't long, thankfully, that I fell asleep, pretending not to hear the sobbing that was coming from my bedroom.

I woke suddenly to screaming, it was mixed with a strangled crying noise I never ever wanted to hear again. I ran into my room and saw Ryann sitting straight up in bed, hands curled into the comforter. Her eyes were blood red, almost glowing in the dim light of the room.

I stood still, unsure if she was still in the nightmare. I had some buddies from my last tour that would do this, and I knew not to disturb her. She looked around the room and spotted me. Her eyes changed in the same instant back to their usual emerald green.

"Sorry I woke you Ari," she said, looking bashful.

"It's okay, nothing I haven't seen before. I never had night terrors but I have had friends that have. You want to talk about it?" I knew the answer but I asked her anyway.

"Nope. Will you lie here with me though? It usually helps when someone is with me." She didn't have to ask twice. I slipped into bed beside her and let her take the lead. She needed to feel safe and comfortable, and I had a feeling she only felt that way when she was in control. She put her head on my shoulder and threw one leg over me. I sighed and tried not to touch her. I finally caved and rubbed small circles against her back and hummed an old South African song my mother used to sing to me when I was sick. It worked as well with her, as it did to me, because by the end of the song she was asleep again.

**Brunch**

I woke up to the smell of something divine, I took another breath and decided it must be bacon and pancakes. I literally could not remember the last time someone made me breakfast. It had to have been Dominic, and it was best to leave those memories alone for now.

I rose up to sitting, and almost cried out at the pain in my legs. It felt like someone had poured hot metal into my bones. I was stretching my arms over my head, when I realized if I didn't get to the bathroom soon I was going to have to figure out how to change Ari's sheets with no legs.

"Ari?" I said in a semi loud voice. Instantly I heard his footsteps coming towards me.

"Morning gorgeous," he said as he picked me up and took me to the bathroom. I didn't even have to tell him.

He placed me on the toilet and stayed in the room, back to me. I didn't care about him hearing, it was this or peeing on him. I finished and flushed, hating the feel of spraying toilet water on my backside. I shimmied my underwear back up, and told him I was ready to leave. He didn't fuss about it, just picked me up and put me at the kitchen table that was so full of food I was expecting an army to walk through the door. I arched my eyebrow at him pointing in silent question to the food.

"My brother and a couple of my Marine buddies are coming for breakfast, they should be here in about fifteen minutes. I didn't even remember they were coming last night. I'm sorry, I tried to call and cancel but they found out I had a woman here and they insisted they weren't missing it." He looked like he felt really bad about it. I shouldn't make him feel bad about this, he had done so much for me it was the least I could do to not act like a baby.

"How much do they know about me?" We needed to go over how much I should be talking about myself.

"They know you are one of my clients, I am very close with my brother so he knows the basics. I trust him with my life so you have nothing to be in fear of him knowing. The other two of my buddies, they have worked with Luca, most of us were in the same unit a couple of years ago. I think they are just going to assume that you are a vampire too, but they will be too scared to say anything about it.

"In fact if you want to scare them a bit, that would be so awesome. They always try to be such hard asses and give me hard time being a civilian P.I. now. If they dealt with half of what I do in my job, they would be shitting themselves." He had this boyish grin on his face. I couldn't deny that face.

"I'll do what I can," I told him matching his grin. It had been too long since I let loose and had some fun.

"Any restrictions?" I asked him, I needed to know how far to push it.

"No, I trust your judgment," he said quickly back to me. That was about the last thing I expected him to say to me, especially after everything.

"Do you think I should change? I hope it won't offend anyone because I don't think I could get pants on at this point without screaming loud enough to wake the dead." I looked at myself sitting, I didn't think the shirt looked too bad on me. It covered enough of me without being vulgar.

"No, I think you look fine. Plus it will render them speechless when they walk in and see you like that in my kitchen," he said pointing the spatula at me. He laughed like just the thought of it was bringing him joy.

I began pulling my hair out of its ponytail, realizing I didn't remember putting one in last night. I suddenly recalled Ari doing it for me. The memory was doing things to my lady parts again.

"Thanks for pulling my hair up, it can get so hot in bed with it everywhere. You didn't do a bad job, I'm impressed," I told him resuming my grooming. He walked over to me and swept a lone stand of hair from my face, guiding it to my hand that was at the crown of my head so I wouldn't miss it. He ran his hand down may face, rubbing his thumb gently over my cheekbone.

I finished pulling up my hair and closed my eyes at his touch. He leaned in and kissed the same area. I sighed like a Disney princess, and closed my hand around his. I pulled him closer, guiding his face to mine with my other hand. I whispered another thank you, barely audible, but we were so close I doubted he missed it.

I kissed him then, it was slow and sweet and gentle. Nothing like what I was used to, and it rocked me to the core. I wanted to feel this feeling for as long as I could. I knew he was holding back, considering the state of my body and the fact that he had guests coming it was a good idea. My mind said it was a bad idea. I worried for a minute about going down this road with him, he was human and more importantly, mortal. Contrary to popular belief immortals were born not made, there was no magical process of changing him. I could feed him my blood and elongate his natural life, but it was still finite, we had no real future.

Ari knew all of this already, he was no naive idiot, and so if he was doing this, he knew what he was getting into. We pulled away from each other and I looked to see three men staring at me, mouths open, eyes looking like cartoon characters. It was hilarious and a small laugh escaped my lips. Of course I heard them come in, but that kiss was too nice to interrupt. Audience be damned.

"Hello," I said breaking the silence and elbowing Ari. "I'm Ryann, I apologize for crashing your breakfast." They continued to remain silent.

"See I got attacked last night, again, and this time he decided to shoot my legs out. Broke one femur and I bled like a stuck pig. It was so kind of Ari to dress my wounds, and let me stay here last night." Their expressions hadn't changed, their bodies were in the exact same position from before. They could have been statues. I was starting to worry I was going to have to keep the conversation going alone.

"You must be the brother," I said towards the Ari look alike. I attempted to smile at him, perhaps it would wake him up. I elbowed Ari again, he looked like a cat that caught the mouse, and he had no intention of helping out his brother or friends. I sent him a glare, it must have worked.

"Ryann this is my brother Osmund, but we call him Ozzie. Those two attempting to catch flies over there, are Henry and Todd. Say hello everyone, or she might think you all are mentally handicapped heathens, incapable of polite conversation." He was so enjoying this, it was written all over his face.

Ozzie was the first to snap out of it, reaching his hand out to me.

"I can't get up so you are going to have to do that a bit closer. The old legs aren't feeling to hot this morning." Ozzie looked shocked for a second that he forgot, and then recovered coming closer.

"You didn't lie brother," he said shooting a look over to Ari. I could read into that what I wanted but I let them have their moment, it was a lot to handle for anyone.

Then Todd and Henry came up, giving me the same treatment and looking a bit confused. Ari thankfully remembered this was his house and his friends and stepped it up.

"Let's eat. I know I'm starving after watching all of you stand and stare for the last three hours." He said it with an easy playfulness that I was beginning to believe was just part of his DNA. Everyone relaxed a bit and we all started to dig in.

We ate and talked about some neutral topics. I tried to ask them questions, it was nice to lose myself in the conversation. There were no expectations, it was immensely refreshing. Eventually though, I had to pay the piper and talk about me.

"So Ryann, Ari tells me you are a client of his. How is your case going?" Ozzie didn't pry for the information, he just seemed curious. I had a feeling he was really looking out for his little brother.

"Well, it isn't going to well to tell you the truth. I have no leads really, just some gut feelings and a whole lot of assumptions. Then there's the fact that someone keeps attacking me, and if they aren't attacking me, they're shooting me." It sounded even worse when I summed it up like that too. "Ari has been really helpful, sharing and running through theories with someone else helps." I smiled at him, he smiled back and everyone was staring at us again, Great.

"We can help if you want," Henry said shyly. "You don't have to tell us every detail but we all have Special Forces training, use our fresh eyes if you want." Ari was nodding at me that it was okay, if he trusted them that was enough for me.

I spent what seemed like the next twenty years outlining the entire thing, I didn't tell them what I was but they assumed that I was special. They didn't need to know the details of that one. I kept my personal life out of it too. They were trying to keep their faces cool, even though I knew it was hard. There was so much we didn't know, seeing the confusion on their faces only highlighted how far we had to go.

"Your gut says it was the vamps though right?" Ozzie asked me.

"Yes it does, I really can't see anyone else going to this trouble to get to me. I have never had a problem with anyone else, outside of Dominic's immediate family I was well liked in the shape shifter community. The vampire clan has never outright challenged me, I think they know my vampire is stronger than any of theirs."

"Yet, they don't want you dead. They just want to scare you away?" Todd asked.

"That is the part that I just don't understand. Even with the handicap, if they brought enough numbers they could kill me. No doubt. There has to be a reason they want me alive." No one offered up a theory as to why. I felt like I was missing something.

"I think you should start with a vamp shakedown. Pick someone weak and willing to squeal, put the pressure on them and wait to see what happens." Henry nodded as Todd added this. It was my next logical step.

"Do you think Cris or Caroline would be good choices?" Ari asked me.

"I think Cris might actually be a good person. I don't want to do that to him unless it is unavoidable. Now Caroline, I could shake her down all day long and enjoy the hell out of it, but that might mess with my plan to keep my nose clean until the hearing." I needed to unravel this mess with as little noise as possible.

"What about this Malachi person? He doesn't seem to fit in with the other attacks," Ozzie asked me.

"Oh my father sent him," I said, feeling very sure about it. All three guests look horrified. Ari nodded his head at the suggestion.

"I think Marcus sent him too. I think he wanted to provoke an attack on you. It makes sense really, if he wants to keep you chipped the best thing to do would be to get you to assault someone," he said. I had the same feeling about it too but I didn't want to admit that out loud to them just yet.

"It is a bit sloppy for my father, but if it was him, I will never know it. He would never let that kind of information out." I knew he would close up his end so tight it would never leak out.

"Your father did that to you?" Ozzie said, a look of disgust on his face.

"Yeah, we don't have a typical relationship. My father fears anything that is stronger than him. I think at the end of the day, I am just another person who could challenge him for power and he doesn't like that. I think he will do what he can to ensure I am not able to do that." I saw Ari nodding, he must have been thinking the same thing.

"Could you challenge him?" Ari asked, looking thoughtful.

"Without the chip in, I could. I would probably win, if he kept the contest fair, which is a big if. Marcus is a superb werewolf, probably the largest in existence. It would be a fight for the ages, the problem is that I have no desire to play shape shifter politics, or to deal with the Council and Tribunal if I won." That would be a nightmare. I visibly shuddered at the idea.

"By the way, Luca left me a message this morning that your hearing with said Council was rescheduled successfully. It's next Tuesday at eight," Ari told me. I'm sure he had a few choice words about me as well. Thankfully Ari decided not to mention them.

Ari refilled everyone's coffee. He made good coffee too. It was my firm belief that you could tell a lot about a person by the way they made coffee. His was dark and strong, it was so flavorful I wouldn't dare soil it with cream and sugar. This was however, my third cup, so I gave some signals to Ari. I needed to use the bathroom, it was nice not having to worry about appearing weak in front of the humans like this. It didn't matter to them, plus my legs were still killing me.

Ari reached down and scooped me up, like I weighed nothing. I knew I had too much muscle to feel that light but it was a nice feeling, if only for a moment.

"Your faces are going to get stuck that way you know, didn't your mother ever tell you that?" Ari yelled when I noticed all the guys were staring again. Ari threw his head back and laughed, and I joined him.

"You can leave me here for a moment. I'll be fine moving from the sink to the toilet. I'll call you from there, but I really want to wash my face and take some pills for the pain. Can I pack a bowl real quick? It's a good idea for me to mellow out as much as possible. Being injured usually riles my beast and I don't want to scare anyone now. Plus now you can gossip with your girlfriends out there like you would normally." I saw understanding on his face as he smiled at me.

"Is that why you self-medicate so much?" he asked me seriously.

"It's the main reason," I said, explaining it as best I could. "I don't feel so broken, when I take them I can't feel the hole the chip leaves behind." It was an honest description of how it felt. He kissed my forehead and then turned to leave.

I could hear him go in to the bedroom and grab my pills and my stash, coming back in with them and a long button up shirt for me to change into.

"Just holler when you're done and I can come and get you." He smiled and closed the door. I got down to business and was starting to feel much better with a clean face and teeth. I had just taken a hit of my bowl when I heard their voices. I should have told Ari to give me space before talking about anything personal. I had superior hearing, there was no avoiding eavesdropping on their conversation, even if I tried.

"Do you know what you are getting into little bro?" Ozzie asked him in a low tone.

"I know it. I think I'm being safe enough that I won't get hurt," Ari said back.

"I'm not talking about whatever mess she has gotten into, although that is scary as shit. Who shoots a woman's legs while she is down? Besides that, you have impeccable training and great gut instinct. Combine that with the fact that I think she would protect you I'm not worried about this case. It's her, I've never seen you like this with a woman Ari. I'm glad you are getting over Lindsay's death, it's been three years man, and it's time..." Ozzie took a breath in but Ari cut him off.

"But you don't think I should do it with Ryann?" He had a bit of a back off tone in his voice when he said it.

"No, I don't. She a vamp at least and I suspect a whole lot more than that too. She is immortal, you are not, and from what Luca has mentioned to me, you never will be. This situation is all sorts of messed up without complicating things by screwing her." I thought I heard a human version of growl come from Ari.

"Let's agree not to talk about her like that again, okay Oz? I know what I'm getting into with her, I just have to help her. I know it makes no sense to you, but it feels right with her. However that plays out with her I'm going to take it." I heard Ari sigh, then continue.

"She tends to shut down when people get close though, so it's about time for her to push me away anyway. But I'm going to talk with her later about things, see where we stand. I'm not looking for a lifetime again Oz, but she is different. She pulls me in, fills me with something that has been empty since for a long time. It's like feeling the sun on your face again. I couldn't stay away even if I tried. Thanks for looking out but I'm taking what I can, while I can." His brother laughed at him. It was a sweet sound, like he was backing off.

"I got it Ari, I can say you didn't pick a boring one. She is beautiful and bright, but not boring. Good luck, and if you need me, just call. Bryn and Brooke want to see their uncle soon, I caught them trying to sneak into the car when they found out I was heading over here." Ari laughed. I heard what sounded like them shaking hands, and then heard the front door open and close. I was guessing they had all cleared out. I didn't say anything, I just finished smoking and let my brain work itself out.

His brother was right, I couldn't start something with Ari. It wasn't fair to him or to me. I had to things to fix, people to protect, and issue upon issue to deal with myself. I had more luggage than a 747 on takeoff. Add to that I had a nasty habit of leaving a path of destruction behind me, there was no outcome at the end of this that was going to be a good for him.

We were sitting and watching a movie later on in the evening, after spending the day going over strategies on how to talk to get someone to talk. I had attempted to be responsible and sit in his recliner while he took the sofa. I needed to put some distance between us.

"You going to tell me what you are thinking about so hard over there?" Ari asked me, looking to the chair I was in.

"Your brother is right Ari." He closed his eyes at my comment. He knew this talk was coming, and when he didn't argue with me I just continued.

"I shouldn't be here to begin with, but starting something with you would be wrong on many levels." And so right on others, I thought silently to myself.

"I chose to help you so don't even start feeling bad about that part. Here with me might actually be the safest place for you. As for the rest, I know what you're saying Ryann, I really do. You and I need to keep it professional now. It's just all messing with my head, I don't know what the right thing to do with you is. Right now all I can think about is that fucking kiss from earlier. I want to just pick you up and take you in my room and come out some time next year." He had such a wolfish smile, it was infectious.

"The feeling is mutual Ari," I said closing my eyes. They were so heavy. I heard him head my way and scoop me up again.

"Let's get you to bed gorgeous, I'll lay with you for a while then I'm going to work on some stuff. I'll be in later," Ari said, putting me down on the bed. I yawned curling up into his side and falling almost instantly asleep.

**Timing**

I awoke to the sounds of muted voices, whoever it was they sounded furious. It took me a second to shake the sleep from my brain, it was light outside. I actually slept through the night? I was about to enjoy this moment when I heard Luca and Dominic's voices coming from the living room. Shit, I closed my eyes to focus on their words. I slowed my breathing and opened up my vamp senses, as much as I could.

"No one has seen her Ari. If you know anything at all about her I would appreciate it." Dominic was speaking and trying not to sound angry, it wasn't working.

"I can't say I know where she is at the moment," he said flatly. He was trying not to give himself away, considering I was twenty feet away, in his shirt, in his bed, it was going to be a hard sell.

"Gods damn it!" Dominic yelled, "The last thing someone saw was her lying in the alley of D's, drunk as a fish and bleeding from two gunshots. I am not messing around, tell me." I could hear Luca stepping in to hold Dominic back.

"I'm sure she is fine Dom, she's as tough as they come." Luca sounded a bit unsure of that himself, interesting.

"I know he knows something, I can smell her scent all over." His voice was rough. To his beast, I was still his mate. It called to me, it was so hard to sit here and do nothing.

"Maybe that is because she attacked me remember? Besides that, if you want to help her maybe you should work on the council for her hearing. If she wants to be found I'm sure she will be." I could hear Dominic growl from here.

"If she tries to contact you will you call me?" Luca said calmly, trying to steer the conversation in a more civilized direction.

"If she calls me, I'll let you know." I would have to be careful not to call Ari from here on, I didn't want to put him in any more trouble.

"Thanks Ari," Luca said. It sounded like he was having to drag Dominic out the door. I heard the door open and shut and I decided to come out. My legs supported my weight nicely, I wouldn't be in fighting form but I could get around fine now.

He saw me standing in the doorway, smiling at me he said, "Your friends are a bit intense Ryann. Is it just you or are they always like this?"

Ari looked tired. I was going to try to talk to Cris tonight and then move on, I needed to leave Ari alone for a bit. I didn't trust myself and I didn't trust that I could keep him safe if I stayed here.

"They are like that with me. It's been that way as long as I could remember. We were inseparable growing up and in school." We were family, it sounds cheesy but to us it was simple, we existed in a realm outside of the norm.

"I have protected them for so long, spending ten years as a tight unit in the field made us even closer, if that was possible. They feel a duty to protect me as well, I usually didn't need them to, or allow them to protect me but they wanted to. Now none of know how to act." My face fell thinking about how different everything was now.

"You all just need to find a new dynamic. The bond you have is special, giving up on that is not an option and you all know it. It will take some work to get to a new place. My advice? Don't focus on getting back what you had, it's no longer an option for you because of what happened. Focus on getting to a new place and the same bond and feelings will come back." Ari was a very smart man I decided, and it was making it very hard for me to keep my hands off him.

"I think if you and Dominic can work things out the rest will follow," he said with a resignation in his tone, a look of bitterness on his face.

"That's quite a dragon to slay Ari, I don't know if I can." I was a complete scaredy-cat when it came to him and me.

"You don't know if you can, so you are afraid to try. I have a feeling you don't like doing things you are not sure you can win," he said. Point to Ari, the bastard was always right, especially when it came to me.

"Yeah, I get it. One dragon at a time alright? I'm going to visit Cris tonight. Hopefully I can get some good information out of him about Kyle's vampire backer." I moved over to the table and started digging into the food that he was making when he interrupted my thoughts.

"And after that?" Ari asked, brow furrowed.

"After that, I'm going to camp out for a few days. I need to clear my head, hunt a bit. I haven't had much time to process things. That was my life for five years, before the week from hell descended on me. I need to center myself or I'm going to crack." That was what I was most afraid of and I could tell he understood.

"You need to spend that time thinking about things too. Don't hide from your feelings, feelings aren't a bad thing. They are only bad when they stop you from living." I knew he was talking about Dominic again.

"Dominic and I were mated Ari, not girlfriend and boyfriend. Not secretly in love with each other best friends. Not even the human equivalent of being married. It was more, it was love on every level, on a cellular level. My vampire and my beast chose him too, I never thought that would happen." I was fighting the tears, this was the one topic I always avoided.

"Do you still love him?" Ari asked, his jaw was clenched but he still spit it out.

"I always will, that's no question. I just don't know if that's enough. Juke said if I let things be enough, if I let them be enough, then they would be. I want him to be right, but sometimes the past and the future are on two paths that can never cross." And I'm scared shitless that is what I will find it is with Dom.

"Bull shit. Do you still love him?" It was like he didn't hear my last answer, he just kept repeating the same question.

"I just told you," I said back, a bit angry and confused.

"And I'm calling your bull shit. Do you still love him?" He asked a third time, his voice rising a bit. I didn't say anything, locking eyes with him but still unable to give him an answer.

"Do you still love him?" he asked, yelling it directly at me.

"Fuck you Ari, stop pushing this! Stop pushing me all the time!" I felt my hands shaking, they were beating a steady tattoo along my arms.

"Do you still love him?" He asked again, softer but no less insistent.

"I don't know!" I screamed at him, finally letting down my carefully constructed walls.

"There's some truth Ryann, finally. You don't like that you don't know, do you? If you two were super mates, you think it should still be there, but it's not is it?" he asked, knowing the answer. Holy shit was he in my head?

"How the hell do you know that?"

"It's written all over your face. Luca said you deal in absolute terms, you are best when you are decisive. You like a clear yes or no, knowing what to do, and what you want, with confidence. You hate anything you can't figure out. Dominic scares you because you don't know how you feel. He is the definition of too many questions and not enough answers." I stared at him. I didn't know what to say.

"It's okay not to know Ryann. It's okay to be scared. I don't think anyone let you do that when you were younger. Fear can be an ally, something to anchor you to reality," he said giving me a voice so filled with acceptance and kindness I had to fight to stay standing.

I found myself walking towards him while he was talking. I didn't remember deciding to do it, yet here I was an inch from reaching out and touching him. He had something I needed, a link to the more human part of me that often got lost in the magic.

I was being selfish with him. It was wrong of me to come here, to bring him into this mess. I wasn't in a position to do something with him, but at the moment I didn't want to stop myself.

"I shouldn't want to kiss you when we just talked about him, I shouldn't add to your problems right now," he told me running a hand down my hair.

He meant Dom, I saw he was shaking his head trying to convince himself of something. I knew it too, but that didn't stop me from leaning my head into his chest, I rested my forehead in the middle of his breastbone. I listened to his heartbeat, and took a deep pull of his scent. I gripped the sides of his T-shirt. I think I wanted to meld myself to him, draw on his strength until I was full, until someone ripped me away.

I finally looked up into his face and all those noble intentions just flew out the window when I saw his eyes. We locked stares for a good ten seconds, and then we were all over each other.

I picked me up, and I wrapped my legs around his waist, mashing my fingers into his hair. I felt my fangs come out a bit and I moaned. Ari looked at them, moving his hand to cup my jaw. He ran a finger over one and it made my whole body shudder.

He moved his hand down my shoulder and side, finally resting in my lower back and kissed me again. I growled when I felt Ari rip the buttons on the shirt I was wearing. I could feel the air hit my body when he ripped the shirt, my nipples were so hard they ached. He bent down to take one in his mouth and it was incredible. We were so deep in each other I almost didn't hear the slight click of the safety from the gun outside as bullets hit the house.

I dropped down to the floor, taking Ari with me. We landed in a heap, thankfully behind the kitchen island.

"Get down I'll be back," I yelled out to Ari while crawling to get my guns from my bag in the bedroom. I was so sick of this shit, I thought, as I dragged my sore body down the hall.

I got into the room, locked and loaded my weapons and put my knife sheath on. I looked ridiculous, in a torn shirt and underwear, all loaded up with weapons. You don't get to pick when you are going to have to fight for your life.

I army crawled the rest of the way back, thankful that Ari listened to me and was tucked behind the island. He knew how to behave in situations like these and he proved it by holding a shotgun to his chest, phone in hand.

I pointed to the gun with a smile on my face.

"I had one mounted to the underside of the island. I am always prepared." He held up his hand in a boy scout salute.

"At least you have clothes on, I look like one of those video game vixens." Ari confirmed this by licking his lips and running his gaze down my body. I elbowed him and another round of fire hit the house.

When it stopped I peaked around the island and saw at least four big guys with automatics on the lawn. "Damn, I can't believe they found me here. Ari, we are going to need backup. I can't see everyone, but I sight four and something tells me there is more. The real threat is most likely coming next. I don't want to do this but call Luca." This was bad enough to call them in, not for me, but for Ari.

"We just need to last until the cops come Ryann," he said to me looking confused.

"They wouldn't do this out in the open of humans without some concealment spells in place. Your neighbors have no clue what is going on right now. Crawl to the bedroom and call Luca, fill him in best you can. If something nasty comes in here, I want it to look like it's only me here." He gave me a smile reserved to the mentally challenged.

"You are crazy if you think I'm going to hide in my room gorgeous, I may be human but I'm a fucking Marine." He actually smiled at me like he was enjoying this. Great, he didn't look like he was going to break, and I had to go with it.

"Fine, call Luca then. Tell him to get everyone here he can scrounge together without raising any flags." Just as I said this, I heard the front door being torn open.

"Where are you maggot? Trenton said he gave you two gimp legs so you can't be far," said a voice that was feminine yet masculine at the same time.

_'Is that a woman?' _I mouthed to Ari, he nodded back.

_'Text him no talking,' _I said soundlessly and he nodded again, working away on the phone.

"I can smell the human here too, I hope it's that P.I. He looks so good on surveillance, I bet he tastes better in person," she rasped out in her man voice, definitely female but very rough. I decided not to be a complete idiot by responding and giving away where we were.

"I'm going to give you two minutes to think about this. You are coming with me, and I will consider not killing the human if you come out willingly. You can try to fight me but I will win. If you choose that I will make him suffer. Your time starts now." Well fine then.

I looked over to Ari as he was shaking his head no to me. He knew what I was going to do, there was no choice. I nodded at him and reached out and touched his face, kissing him softly on the mouth for the barest of seconds. I looked at him again, and saw a look of tenderness that I was going to store in my mind for bad times when I would need it.

_ETA? _I mouthed to Ari.

He held up five fingers, five minutes. I would try to stall but I didn't know if it would work. What kind of backup did she have? No, I couldn't risk them walking into a trap. There was too much I didn't know about.

I jumped up, gun raised and managed not to trip when I saw her. She had to be seven and a half feet tall, and part fae if her face was any indication. She had a strange aura around her. If I had to guess she was half vamp half fae, which was unusual to say the least. The fae wasn't the dominant part in her, I could tell. They were passive by nature. Tricky and mean sometimes but not physically aggressive, this lady had no trouble getting her hands dirty.

"Drop your weapon. I have four men fully armed on your lawn, two warriors on each side of the house and one at the back. You are trapped. While I would love to play with you, I am under strict instructions to bring you with me." She rolled her eyes at the last part.

"Fuck you," I told her.

"Amusing vocabulary you have." She held her hand out to me to grab it, motioning that I needed to get a move on. I needed to stall until my friends got here to make sure Ari wasn't hurt, I didn't trust her.

"I'm not going anywhere with you unless you can guarantee him safety." My legs were throbbing and I tried to shift my weight a bit to ease the pain. She tilted her head at me, studying me.

"Trenton is an idiot. He was supposed to just talk to you, not shoot you just so you know. That man has no sense. Let's go little maggot, I don't have all day." She looked like she just wanted to get this errand done, it was so strange.

"No harm will come to Ari?" I fixed her with a hard stare, hopefully the fae side of her would have a hard time lying.

She stared back at me and snapped her fingers. I could hear some popping sounds coming from the sides and back of the house, she had called off her backup. She raised an eyebrow. "Happy? My men won't touch him, they will teleport when I do. Now my patience is gone, so let's go or I flay your human."

I heard a pop on the front lawn and saw Dominic and Luca, they spotted me, but before they could teleport in here I grabbed her hand. I sent one last thought out to Cole, hoping he was there with them somewhere and could hear me.

_'I'm sorry Cole, I had no choice, protect Ari.'_

Then blackness engulfed me.

**Rogues**

"I'm sorry Cole, I had no choice. Protect Ari. I heard it clear as a bell," I told everyone for the tenth time. They were all here in Ari's house, I even went to go get London after we cleared the house so she could hear this too.

After I got her we listened to the fantastical story of how Ryann planned to keep us all away. It was a brilliant plan really, except for the part where she left Ari here to explain it to everyone. That could have gone better, thankfully she had warned me a touch.

She must have known Ari was going to need some backup when everyone arrived. We all knew he was doing what Ryann wanted, but we were emotionally manipulated, and it didn't sit well with any of us. Some took it harder than others.

Dominic and Ari had to be separated after he told the story of how he had helped her. When he got to the part about what happened before they were shot at, specifically why Ryann was in her underwear, it took almost an hour for Dominic to calm down outside.

We all had a hard time hearing the story Ari had to tell. It was classic Ryann though, so no one doubted his account of what happened. I had to give it to him, he had some balls to try and pull it off with her.

"We need to figure this out before something horrible happens to her," London added in. "Her legs must be killing her so fighting and running are going to be hard if things go south where they took her." I could see she was fighting tears, and I pulled her close to fold her in my arms.

"I didn't get the sense that the giant lady was there to hurt her. It seemed like she just wanted her to come with her," Ari stated.

"That still makes no sense," Juke said from the kitchen table. He was trying to sweep up the last of the broken glass from under it.

"She said that Trenton was an idiot, he was supposed to talk to her not shoot her. I think they want her whole." Ari looked concerned but confident in his assessment.

"That's not much better," Luca said.

"Tell me again her theories on who is behind this," Dominic spat out, he was still fuming.

"She thinks it's vampires that are behind this whole thing. We never got even remotely close to figuring out anything solid, it was mainly just feelings. Kyle was vampire, so it makes sense it would be someone that she was in regular contact with. Does this make sense? Would there be reason for the vampire community to want to target Ryann?" Ari asked. He was so perceptive. I bet he was a fantastic P.I.

"There was always bad blood between her and the vamps, but I can't see them behind this I have to tell you," Luca said.

"Really Luca? They have always hated Ryann. I can name about twenty people that would do a dance if she was gone," Dominic said, face still red and hands still shaking. Perhaps it was best that the two of them not get close to each other.

"Yes Dominic, they might resent her choices but she also served them on missions. We did that vampire central region council meeting security and she caught a few rogue vamp assassins. She saved their lives that night. It's not so cut and dry Dominic. We are not automatically to blame because of what we are." Luca had a point, a shaky one but a point none the less.

"Then we should broaden the suspect list," Ari said, getting his notes out about everything. Finally someone was trying to beat some reason into us.

"I know Ryann doesn't have a good relationship with her father, but can you elaborate on that? Would he be a person of interest behind what happened that night?" His question was met with blank faces. We never considered the possibility.

"Marcus Stone wouldn't do something that blatant, he never does anything without knowing one hundred percent he can win. He plays the long game too well to be sloppy like that," Dominic said, I could see a muscle jump on Luca's jaw.

"None of the other clans either, the witch or warlocks? Maybe the fae or the demon and angel coalition?" he asked us. He knew too much not to have been talking with Ryann for longer than they were claiming, but that was a discussion for another time.

"I can't see those ideas either. Most of those groups are passive. If you see some rogues they are never well organized. They are more like lone wolf attackers, doing small jobs of violence," Luca said.

"Then there is only way to look at this," Ari said, looking to each of us gauging our reaction. "If they don't want her dead they may want to use her." I paled at what he was implying. This was all of our worst nightmares come of life.

"You think someone wants to use her like a weapon?" London asked, looking a bit sick at the idea. I pulled her into my lap, placing my hand on her little bump. It calmed us both, and I could feel the baby calm under my hand.

"I think it's a good possibility. All the physical testing of her powers, the need to keep her alive," Ari said with a grimace, he looked a bit sick at the idea too.

"This idea reeks of her father Dominic, even you have to agree to that. He wanted to put her through all that testing when she came of age remember? Some of the things he made her do was beyond cruel. Now all of a sudden he wants to change her hearing to his council," Juke said, trying not to sound threatening.

"Hey, I'm not all for defending Marcus guys. I just don't think it's him. All that sounds real interesting when you put it together, but it's too sloppy for him," Dominic said defensively, and I had to agree with him.

"We may agree about that, but who helped out Kyle that night? Marcus hates rogues and exiles, he would never enlist their help on something like this. Plus he lost out big. He never showed it to them, but Kyle and Ryann were a source of pride for him. It might be pride in a selfish sense, but he didn't want that to happen to his family. He had to do so much damage control after that." I said, noticing everyone looked as wired as I felt. The pressure of it all was getting to us.

"Maybe that was part of the plan too," Ari said again, he was good at leading questions because we all fell into his line of thinking.

"What do you mean?" London asked him, looking hopeful some kind of answers.

"In one night Kyle did the job of alienating and weakening Ryann, tarnishing the reputation of the powerful Marcus Stone, and calling into question the Elite you all worked for, and the shape shifter clan she was a part of. Some beneifical side effects include infighting during her sentencing, the breakup of your powerful group of friends, and the destruction of her mating. Who benefits from that?" he asked writing down notes as he spoke. We all sat back and really thought it out.

"The rogues," Luca and Dominic said at the same time. Ari was nodding his head, when did he put that together I wondered? He was a fast thinker.

"They benefit from all of it. She is off the streets, no longer doing missions messing up their network, killing them and destroying their bases. If their goal is to use her as a weapon, they just succeeded in emotional weakening her, ostracizing her from her friends and family, hooking her on drugs, and making it a hell of a lot easier to get away with what they want," Dominic said, looking at the ground to his feet. He couldn't believe it and neither could I, it all made fucking sense too, that was the kicker.

"If what we are saying is true, and the rogues are behind this, then where did they take her? What are they going to do to her?" Juke asked aloud. I had no clue on that one.

"I don't think they are going to hurt her. I think they will most likely return her before the hearing date," Ari told us. We all looked at him like had a plant growing out of his head.

"You think they went to all that trouble to get her with them, only to release her?" London asked, the baby was kicking up a storm in her. I don't think it liked the idea either.

"Oh most definitely. She is much more powerful without that chip in. I think the plan this whole time is for her to get it out at the meeting. Then they can really use her," Ari said looking green.

"So we sit here and wait?" Dominic said, not liking that idea any more than I did.

"I don't think she is going to be coming back here guys, before we...got shot at she mentioned she was just going to camp out until the date. With those guys knowing where I live she won't want to put me or you all in any danger. She's going to hang out to keep the heat off any of us. She won't risk it, especially with the baby," Ari said looking to London.

She had stopped fighting the crying and the tears were tickling my forearm that was wrapped around her. London turned to face me and buried her face in my neck.

"We never should have let her go Cole, all we did was let her go and all she does is try to keep us safe. If she comes out of this whole, I'm binding her to me. I'm going to tape her to a chair and never take my eyes off her," she said with fierce determination. I smiled, knowing I was damn lucky to have her as mine.

"I know baby, me too," I whispered back, kissing her. She began sobbing again and I let her.

"We will keep in touch until the meeting, but I wouldn't expect to see her outside of next Tuesday," I told everyone, they all nodded back.

"You three need to stay away from each other too." I pointed towards Dominic, Luca, and Ari.

"You all know it would be better too, when we get this shit fixed then you can go all alpha male on each other. In the meantime keep it together, she needs us all at maximum capacity if we are all going to get through this," I told their hard faces. Gods what a mess.

I opened my eyes and noticed I was in a clearing, realizing they picked a good spot. Nonspecific, with common features, it could be found anywhere. There goes my hope they were all idiots, I started to slowly inch my way back, scanning the area around me for attackers. I took a deep breath when I felt a tree trunk at my back. I liked knowing what was behind me. I wasn't taking any chances today.

"Little maggot there is no need to cower, no harm will come to you here," the giant lady said from a ways away.

"Giant maggot, I am not cowering. I'm covering a blind spot, I may be weak but I am no moron," I said back to her teasingly. "You have me at a disadvantage by the way. You know my name after all..." I said leaving it open ended. Even if she refused to use it.

She thought for a long moment and said, "I think I like Giant maggot, but if you must use my real name call me Steph."

"Steph, can we get along with this now? I am standing here in my underwear for gods sake." Just once I wanted something to go my way, and being here while wearing next to nothing was annoying.

"Patience, they should be here any minute and you can get the answers you want." She reached over her head and took off her own shirt. Thankfully she had on an undershirt, no bra, but at least she was covered. Her breasts had to be the size of my head. I put on the shirt and was glad it covered most of me.

True to her word, about three minutes later two men came into view. One was Trenton, looking like a scolded child. That was a good thing, I was pissed about my legs. The other had to have been a blood relative of Trenton, they looked almost like twins. I was guessing brothers, but since our aging is stunted one could never be sure.

"Ryann, you know Trenton," Steph said, I showed him my teeth. "And this is Reynold," she continued motioning towards the other man. He did a half bow to me, scanning my body. There was a cold intelligence about him, I was going to have to be careful around him.

"Hello," I answered dryly. Why were they bothering with such formalities?

"I brought you here to offer you a proposition. I want you to try to be open to it, and you should think of your own self-preservation this time. Even a martyr like you should have a sense of survival." If he wanted me to be open to his idea, insulting me was not the way to go.

"I will listen, but you need to move this show along," I said, recognizing that my legs were killing me.

"We are representatives of a newly formed rogue nation, recently united in a common cause. To put it simply, we are going to war with the councils," he said in a plain tone. Oh my gods, the rogues. Of course it was the rogues, but where did my sister land in all of this.

"We would like to offer you a position in this revolution. You would be a great asset to us. You have unparalleled strength, superb training, and insider knowledge. They have taken from many of us what they have taken from you. We have a large number of people with us that have been chipped, been exiled, been unjustly persecuted like you. This is your chance to get even. You want blood, we can give that to you. You want power, we can give that to you too. You want control, you can take it back," he said sounding proud and confident. Oh, that even sounded good. He must have practiced it, too bad it was all bull shit.

"That sounds a lot like exchanging one leash for another. What about that idiot next to you? He has done some pretty vile things to me. Why on earth would I want to help you after that?"

"Trenton is a little overzealous, and he was punished as such. The first attack was necessary, a bit too rough for our taste, but it was necessary. We needed to know what kind of condition you were in, and things got taken too far. I admit I was surprised you can get your fangs out, but you are much weaker than I had hoped for. That is why we decided to leave you alone until the hearing. You need that chip out, and we need you without it as well. It benefits us both really." Oh great, they really were delusional if they thought this made sense. Trenton looked like he was trying to shoot daggers through his eyes at me. None of what they said explained Kyle though.

"Why would I help you out if you were the reason I am here at all? I can only assume you helped Kyle that night." He flinched just a fraction when I said that part, it must still be a sore subject for him.

"Kyle was a mistake, and I told them that. She wanted to borrow some rogues to take you down a notch, in exchange she gave us very useful information. She told us she wanted to be the hero for once, I tried to warn them, but no one listened to me. I can tell you she never thought it would end that way." He was shaking his head at the thought. It finally made sense, Kyle was great in theory but in battle, she panicked. She must have lost control of the rogues.

"I took care of that for you then," I told him sounding bored, but I was really trying to hide a smirk.

"Yes, I heard about that. It made me smile, one less loose end to tie up," Reynold said with a smile. I couldn't put my finger on it but there was something not right about him and Trenton.

"Why the council?" I asked. I needed to be careful, I wanted to get as much information I could without raising any flags.

"They are too outdated and self-serving. Using the pretense of justice like the hand of the gods, taking away peoples magic. It's barbaric. We think it's time for a change. We will be that change, things will be different when everything is said and done. The question you need to ask yourself is what side of history do you want to be on?" He was smiling like it made perfect sense to him.

"While those ideas are nice, the council is not made up of the weak. They are made up from some of the strongest and oldest magical lines in history. You know Marcus, he is from of one of the original wolf lines on the planet. Taking them down won't be easy, it will be a long and costly war." A very bloody war too.

"We are prepared, but with the right weapon, we can cut down some of that, don't you agree? After a while they will see reason and surrender to us," he said clear in his intentions. Ignoring all that nonsense, he was playing a cute little pronoun game. He was being very careful not to say I, which meant he wasn't in charge. He might be up there in terms of power, but he wasn't running the show. I was missing a big piece to this puzzle.

"You have given me much to consider Reynold. What is your time frame?" I tried to sound interested but non-committal.

"We will contact you three days after your hearing. Steph will arrange it, finding people is one of her gifts, and you will not be able to hide. You can answer us then." He tried not to look anxious but he could have been drooling he wanted me that bad.

I nodded my understanding, and he made a move to leave. He didn't come off as threatening then, but I knew what wasn't being said. If I didn't do this willingly he was going to force me, I knew it. The real question was if he was going to stick to his time frame or if they would strike at me sooner.

"It's been a pleasure," he said, coldly polite.

"Yes," I said back to them. I scowled at Trenton again, refusing to be nice to him.

They left the same way they came in, and Steph approached hands out. "Would you like to go back to where you were?" She asked me, yawning like she was bored.

"Yes for a minute then can you pop me somewhere else?" She didn't look surprised at my comment, just curious.

"I won't be long there, I just need to grab my pack and we can go." She nodded at me, thankfully agreeing to my request and we left for Ari's. She took us to the back door of his house, it took me moment to realize where we were.

"There is a spare key to the house under the pot next to the door. I suggest sneaking in and coming out quick. It's late so I can imagine he will be sleeping," she said. That was a scary detail of what she knew, I was going to have to really stay away from everyone now, they knew too much. She was wrong about Ari though, I thought he would probably be waiting up for me but I didn't say that to her.

"I'll be back," I told her as I reached for the key. I snuck into the back of the house, passing the island, trying to stay silent as I made my way around. I stopped still when I saw Ari sitting at the kitchen table, reading a newspaper, in the dark, upside down. My pack and guitar were sitting on the table, cellphone sticking out of the pocket in the front along with an envelope. I knew he knew I was there, but he was trying to make this easier for me by pretending I wasn't. I got as close as I could physically dare and bent down to speak in his ear.

"Another life Ari, another time, and I would make you mine. I don't have that piece of me to give to you, or I would try like hell," I told him on the barest of whispers. Standing, I kissed the top of his head, a couple tears escaping and landing on his paper like raindrops on the sidewalk. I grabbed my shit, and ran out the back door as fast as my shaking legs could carry me, never once looking back.

Steph gave me the strangest look as I burst through the back door, it was almost sad but it was gone as quick as it came. I told her where to take me and we were gone, just like that.

**Hearing Things**

I woke up the next morning, looking around a familiar campsite. The morning was blessedly warmer that it had been recently. I sat up and stretched, fixing my hair in a big bun on top of my head. I still had on Steph's shirt, I was so tired after last night I didn't bother changing once I got my tent hitched up. I pulled my guitar out and tried to calm myself with some songs. That damn phone kept staring at me from the ground, daring me to pick it up and do something stupid.

I kept the phone off, afraid I would use it to call London. I missed her so damn much I felt like the skin above my heart was going to split. I would have destroyed it if I didn't think I might need it in an emergency.

Pulling myself out of the self-pity spiral I was heading down, I focused on getting through my morning routine. Finally deciding that being clean was the way to go, I spent extra time in the river, trying to wash every horrible thing that happened this past week away. I scrubbed my skin until it was almost raw.

When I couldn't stand it anymore I went back and broke down, tearing open the envelope that was in my pack. I had been staring at it all last night, I set it far away from me in the tent like a poisonous snake I didn't want to agitate. It had a legal pad piece of paper in it with one word written on it, rogue. It was written in Cole's handwriting and the paper smelled like London. It was as comforting as it was mournful.

I was hoping they would figure it out after I put everything together last night. With Ari's help I'm sure they got close to figuring everything out. The envelope had some money in it, also smelling like London. I smiled and it felt good. I needed to stop moping about all this shit and get it together, I had people that depending on me rising above this shit.

After washing some stuff, and drinking enough coffee to drown a horse, I set about planning my next step. Long term, I needed to prepare for the council meeting. Everything hinged on getting the chip out, then I could take on Reynold and Trenton, or at least fend them off long enough to alert the councils. I had no intention of joining in their idiocy, they really didn't know anything about me if they thought it would work.

Not that they didn't have a chance of success, I had to note, but it was slim. The Elite was no small time force, they were well organized and almost fanatic in their loyalty. The rest of the community Guard, as well as the members of the councils themselves, were a force to be reckoned with. It would take a monumental effort to get something like that off the ground, so we had some time before things got serious.

I needed to work on keeping my head straight enough to get through the hearing. I just wasn't sure what they were going to ask or what I was going to say. Should I tell them outright about the rogues? No. They might just think it was a play to get them on my side. Like some weird scare tactic. My father was never one to believe in anything without hard proof. The only evidence I has was getting beaten up and shot, combined with a clandestine meeting with two weirdoes and a giant lady, was not evidence. I should stick to my story and hope Kyle's admissions would be enough to save me. The consequences of them saying no were bad. Very, very, bad.

The days leading up to the hearing went by surprisingly fast. I kept on with my meditation, it was working better than the drugs sometimes. I had so much trouble containing the beast this last week, it was getting harder and harder with all the stress to keep from cracking. I worked on my songs more, playing until the tops of my fingers started to bleed. It felt nice, almost normal.

I tried not to think too much about the hearing, there was so much out of my control I would have driven myself mad with all the different ways it could go. In the end though I was optimistic, the evidence was so in my favor I couldn't see even my father denying the facts.

Before I knew it, Tuesday night was closing in. I tried to fix my hair the night before the best I could. I carefully sculpted each dread, cleaning the few beads in there and trying to make it look presentable for tomorrow. I hung my suit up in the tent, in an effort to decrease the wrinkles I made when throwing it in my pack back at the apartment. It looked pretty good once I put it on. Thanks the gods I grabbed the heels I bought for it before I left, I needed every shred of confidence I could muster. I only took what I needed for the time being, I didn't put the tent or my gear away. A part of me still held onto the fear that it wouldn't change anything, and I would be right back here. If they were going to send me back I was going to leave it here to come back to. If they let me stay, well I would leave the tent for the next traveler. Or come back and burn it to the ground in celebration.

I used the phone only twice, once to text Cole and tell him I was finding another way to get to the meeting hall. I couldn't see him now, I was nervous enough as it was without adding being paranoid someone was going to get to him. He didn't text back, I figured that meant he wasn't happy about it either. The next call I made went to Jason.

"Ryann, how are you?" Jason said to me, worry in his voice. He sounded concerned for me, and I felt the same way.

"I am hanging in there, no one managed to attack me for a while, so I consider that a good week." His laugh filled my ears.

"It's the small things, is it not?" he said, it really was.

"I need a favor. Unless you have been hiding under a rock this past week you know I have a meeting with the council tonight, and I need someone to pop me in. You busy?" I tried to sound like it was no big deal, but if he said no I was going to have to break down and call one of the guys.

"Of course, where are you?" I told him my coordinates and he showed up by my tent a few minutes later. He pulled me into a long hug, kissing the top of my head.

"Hey you think you can do me one more favor?" I asked him. I was so glad I thought of it in that moment.

"You should never owe an angel this many favors Ryann," Jason said with a smirk.

"You think you can break this cast off? My arm feels much better, I don't need it anymore." He raised an eyebrow but thankfully didn't argue with me. He grabbed my arm and with his large hands crushed the middle of the cast enough to crack it open. He pulled the two ends off my arm and then ripped the lining away. It felt so good to get it off my skin.

"Thanks, ah, that feels so much better," I said as I was rolling my wrist and arm around, it felt a bit weak but healed. If things got bad I would need my arm fully functional in a fight.

"Are you ready to go, or do you want to hang here a while longer?" he asked bringing me out of my head.

"No I'm ready for this." I told him, straightening my stance. I hope they were too.

London and I sat fidgeting and looking around the room waiting for Ryann's hearing to start, even more people were packing in. To the right of me, Juke sat with Luca flanking the other side of London. We were exchanging some worried glances. The meeting hall that the council used could seat probably one hundred people. It was set up much like a human courtroom, but instead of a judge bench there was a round semicircle for the council members. It had never seen that full of a capacity until tonight. Every nosy busy body, every wondering little punk, every prying eye came out tonight to see this. Some looked curious and concerned, some looking thirsty for blood. Like those humans that go to car races in the hopes of seeing an accident.

"She didn't say anything else about us?" Luca asked me for the thousandth time. He was feeling guilty about what he had said to her that night we found her with Ari. She would understand, I was sure of it, but sometimes guilt is the hardest emotion to deal with.

"She sent me a text, it only said she was catching a ride in," I told him.

"And you didn't say anything to her back?" Luca asked me, again. She didn't leave the text open to comment. I couldn't really tell if she was mad at us or not, knowing her she was just trying to keep her distance.

"No, and she didn't say anything else after that either. If she wanted to say something to me she would have, you know her. Now let's just calm the hell down and wait," I told them, grabbing London's hand. She squeezed mine back and we all tried to look confident.

At almost the same moment, we heard the doors open and Ryann walked in. Everyone turned and watched her walk down the aisle to the front of the hall.

Ryann, true to her personality, walked tall, shoulders squared, with a respectful yet strong look on her face. Though she didn't acknowledge us she knew we were there. I made sure we sat close to the aisle so that she could get a good scent on us when she came in.

She shook hands with Marcus and his second Ian. They went up to sit in their seats while Ryann sat in a lone chair off to the right side facing the council. Dominic was on the other side of Ian, two seats away from Ryann's father, looking like he was trying to contain his own anxiety. Everyone took a deep breath as her father began.

"Ryann, you are here because some new evidence has come to light regarding an incident you were charged for in June of 2005. You were found guilty, and sentenced to five years in prison of which you have served two years due to excellent behavior.

"Additionally you were charged with twenty years of exile in which a holding chip was used to suppress your magic. In meeting with us to go over the new information, and answer our questions, you are agreeing to the possibility of a new sentence that we will vote on. If you wish to leave things as is that is your right as well. Shall we continue?" Marcus asked her. I didn't like the sound of that, even though I knew it was procedure.

"Please," Ryann responded nodding her head slightly, it must be killing her to have to be nice to him.

"The new information we have received has been verified that it came from Kyle Stone, your sister, delivered to the responsible persons as dictated in her will. We have gone over the new evidence and would like to summarize what she claims happened that night." Ryann nodded again for him to continue.

"Kyle has claimed that she drugged you, and spelled you the night of the mission at The Spirit House. While that was your claim from the beginnings of the investigation, you retracted that statement later on. If she did indeed drug you, then why recant your accusations?" Marcus asked her, a demoralizing smirk almost on his lips.

"I testified that we were at a bar when we got the call about going back to the mission site. I had a few drinks, but felt fine when I initially left the bar, unfortunately as the night progressed it became clear in my mind what had happened to me. The only person to buy me a drink was Kyle, so that is why I assumed it must have been her. When I retold my theories to the investigators and to the officials during my trial, there were many things that didn't make sense. I was under pressure, and as I have stated before, I hold myself accountable for my actions that night.

"When nothing made sense I had to assume that it was simply me that lost control, and I wanted to atone for what I had done. I recanted what I had said because what I thought happened made no sense. I accepted my sentence, and now Kyle has admitted to sabotaging me so here we are." I thought she did that well, a good dose of honesty rung true in what she was saying, I hoped they noticed it too.

"Kyle asserts that she wanted to be the hero for once, to be the one that saves the day. Do you find this to be true, looking back?" Interesting question, I didn't like the direction this was going, it was too much like a retrial and not a meeting.

"I think looking back I should have noticed she was unhappy sitting back and taking a more strategic role in our missions. I didn't notice, nor did my team, that she was so jealous of me, or that she would have done what she did to me." Ryann's voice still had a touch of anger in it. I knew she felt angry at herself for not noticing it.

"She did do quite a bit of damage but you did the rest of it because of your lack of control, Ryann. She may have set the ball rolling, but you picked it up and carried it away. It was your lack of control that harmed your team that night, as well as several members of the Elite that were called in to capture you." He let it hang there, the mostly unspoken of knowledge that she lost her baby that night too. I was beginning to seriously worry he was baiting her.

"I have always accepted my part in that night, and I carry the guilt of what happened to my team every day. However, I did not bring the rogues into that house. I was not responsible for them ripping into me, shredding my stomach and killing my baby." Her voice shook at the last part. I was surprised she went there, but it was what Marcus was leading her towards, and we all knew she would have to address it at some point. She never talked much about waking up in the hospital, only to have them tell her that she was pregnant but they couldn't save the baby.

"Yes, well it turns out Kyle had a hand in that lie too," Marcus said with a smile. The hall descended in silence, complete and total silence met his words and what they meant. It was almost as if everyone was spelled to be completely still and unbreathing. Marcus looked like a hunter sighting his prey.

"Excuse me?" Ryann croaked out on a whisper. I could see her eyes flash to Dominic who had paled so white he looked like he was going to pass out.

"Oh I thought you had heard, it turns out she had paid a hospital worker to tell you that you were pregnant but lost the baby. I can only assume that her intentions were to hurt you, to make sure you accepted your sentence and left for good but she didn't address that in her letters. After everything that went wrong, she couldn't just let you stay, everything would come out. She doesn't speak to her motive but we can assume it was such." Still more silence, I checked on London and she looked green. I hoped she could make it through this without having to run to the bathroom.

"You didn't think to contact me more privately about this?" she looked at Dominic again, I could see the tears spilling over her cheeks. I wanted so badly to run up there and kill her piece of shit father for doing this to her and Dom. How dare they do this now in front of an audience?

"I assumed you knew. Considering you did kill her. That was not done in private was it Ryann?" Marcus accused on a sneer. A gasp escaped from some mouths. This was the real reason to bring her home, to try her for killing Kyle. I saw Ryann sit up, sticking her chin up and meeting her father's stare.

"I didn't know a thing about her lie. Anyone who suggests otherwise can look to my face and Dominic's to know we had no clue about it. As to Kyle's murder, I am chipped rendering the ability to drain a body impossible. If you had evidence I did killed her, you would have come in force to apprehend me long before this. That means you have no proof and are hoping to bait me into a lie. I will not be so easily tricked father, you taught me well." Her hands were shaking, she needed to get it under control or she was going to doll out some of her own justice and prove them wrong, by killing them all.

"I am not trying to bait you Ryann. I am simply gathering evidence to see if it would be detrimental to the community's safety to have your rights restored. Considering the new evidence, and what you most likely did to Kyle, well it makes us think." I think he said it with a hint of enjoyment. It made me a bit sick to think she came from that man.

"We have no evidence yet, Marcus. It does seem she didn't have any inclination about what Kyle did," a woman said from the row of council members. She leaned over and spoke to another of the members closer to her.

"I motion that we vote on a reduced sentence for her, this is not a trial Marcus. If you want to bring her up on other charges you need to file the right motions," the lady continued. Her name was Scarlett, she was a high ranking member of the shape shifter council and a mother to six children. You could see the sympathy written all over her face. Marcus seemed infuriated at the interruption and snapped at her to retaliate.

"Scarlett, you need a second to that motion before we decide to vote, or did you forget protocol again?" he asked her with a clear grimace on his face. He was scanning the faces of the other members, clearly trying to intimidate them.

"I second the motion." Dominic's voice rang strong and true and his stare bore through Marcus. I think I might have even seen him flinch at Dominic's tone.

"Then we will vote," Marcus said through a jaw so tight it was a wonder any air was getting in or out.

"Scarlett, your motion so you will call the vote," Ian told her in an attempt to keep Marcus as far out of it as possible.

"I am in favor or granting pardon to Ryann Stone, reducing her sentence to time served and the elimination of her hold chip. If you agree, yes. If you don't, no. Majority rules." There were seven on the council. She was going to need four. Scarlett pointed to each of the council members, pad in hand and asked for their vote.

"Roulding?" she turned and asked a very large looking woman who had a permanent frown on her face.

"No," she said with conviction.

"Dominic?"

"Yes" He looked at Ryann when he said it, probably to avoid looking at Marcus and choking him out in front of everyone.

"Yancy?"

"No," he stated gruffly.

"I vote yes," Scarlett said scribbling her answer down.

"Ian?"

"No." That one was an easy answer, Marcus' second would not go against him

"Charles?" she asked. If he said yes it went back to Marcus.

"Yes," he said, and I could see Ryann hands clench the chair.

"Marcus?" she asked, the crowd took in a collective breath.

"Of course not," was his answer. He looked pleased with himself for getting to cast the final vote.

I pulled London to me, and I heard her stifle a sob as she threw her hand over her mouth. I shot a look over to Luca and Juke, hoping they were keeping it together. They looked shocked and numb, I felt the same.

"Per the rules, your sentence will remain as is. If there is any new information about Kyle's death we will come to you," Ian said dismissively, I think he wanted this to be over as much as I did.

"Can I say something?" Ryann asked, she had squared her shoulders and was staring Marcus down. If he thought he could just run over like that, he was mistaken. She said it as everyone was standing to leave so it took a minute for everyone to quiet down.

"Please feel free," Marcus said in a condescending tone.

"I think Kyle was part of a rogue revolution that is planning on coming after the councils." Holy fucking shit, she was going to tell him? Marcus bellowed out a large laugh, full of contempt and disbelief.

"What makes you think that?" Ian asked, having the common sense to treat the threat as real. Even if it was for show, I was glad someone was listening.

"I was approached by some members of what they claim was a rogue nation, planning on overthrowing your current system. They assumed I would be receptive to the idea, and they claimed that Kyle struck a deal with them in order to use some of their rogues. They wanted to wait for me to get my chip in and then I could join them and fight." Marcus was actually looking happy about all this. He must be nuts, truly off the rails.

"Thank the gods your mother isn't here to see this, she would be ashamed. Making up stories Ryann? I'm glad I just voted no. You are clearly unstable." He got up to leave.

"I am not making anything up Marcus. I have no incentive to tell you this other than to warn you. You owe it to your people to take this seriously. They are coming after you, I however will not be with them.

"I have a sense of loyalty and decency that I got from gods knows where, but all I know is it wasn't from you. I love my community and my friends, and I do not want to see them hurt in the end by all of this. No, I will not help them. But now, because of what you orchestrated here, I will be unable to help you either.

"I want everyone to remember this moment and when the shit hits the fan they can know that it was you, father, that is to blame," she said pointing to him as she rose to leave. At that moment, the front door sounded like it was being blasted open. I grabbed London and we hit the deck, just as the first round of gunfire lit up the hall.

**Safe**

I saw Trenton come through the door a second before he raised his gun to start shooting. I jumped from my chair and tried to crouch behind the top platform that held the council members. I didn't want to be up here with my father but I had no choice, I would have never made it into the rows of seats and to London.

I looked over and saw all seven council members in the same position as I was, including one of the Elite guards that was seated at the open end of their semicircle. Dominic looked at me and we shared a second of pity for ourselves, things always seemed to unravel when it came to us.

"Are the teleport wards still up here?" I asked Scarlett, who was thankfully the closest person to me. I needed to put Dominic and our issues to the side if we were going to make it out of this.

"Of course, no one can teleport in or out of here. It always made sense to us security wise, now not so much," Marcus spoke over her looking like he just sucked on a lemon.

"How many guard are in the building?" I asked the Elite member, maybe if I pretended he wasn't there my father would disappear.

"Ten, but since people were starting to file out I think some might have been outside. If I had to guess I would say there are seven in here." We both knew what he was thinking, if they went outside they were as good as dead now.

"I have Juke, Cole, and Luca out there. They won't run, but Cole will be with London. Anyone else here you think might help out?" Dominic asked everyone, we locked gazes and we were both on the same page. We needed to know what we were looking at for backup.

Ian spoke up, "There are some vampire council members here that are loyal to us, I think they will stay and try to fight if it comes to it. Are they the rogues you were talking about?"

"Yes, the only one I saw long enough to ID was named Trenton. He and his brother Reynold tried to contact me about joining in on their plan of attack." I so badly wanted to stick my tongue out at my father and say I told you so. Overconfident ass hat.

"Do you think they are here for you?" the guard asked me. His badge said Jeremy Goulding, he looked so young, like a child.

"Yes, I think they were hoping for this outcome. They were probably spying on me, and didn't like what I had to say about their little uprising. I always knew there plan was to use me, but now they are going to try to force me into it." This was a disaster. They are going to take me now, no way around it.

"Oh little maggot!" Steph called out in a sing song voice, it echoed through the now silent hall. "I knew this was going to happen, those council idiots are acting like spoiled children. How many more people will they unjustly persecute? Someone needs to remind them that even immortality has its limits. Are you going to help us little maggot? I think you really would enjoy it," she laughed out.

I didn't say anything, I wasn't giving up my position for anything.

"You heard her Stephie," Reynold said. "She isn't going to play this the smart way. That's why I snagged two of her little friends. A lovely little witch and warlock couple, I think I picked well too. She'll know she needs to come out with us now, nice and easy like." Oh no, not them. I could feel my arms start to shake, the urge to shift was about as natural as breathing.

_'Cole, I am coming for you, don't fight. You stay with London and you don't move. I love you.'_ He didn't say anything back. I didn't know if that was good or not.

I went from calm and purposeful to instant fear. Ari said I could use fear to sharpen me, I had worked on that the last couple of days when I was meditating. I took in some deep breaths and turned my focus on Marcus. There was no one here to save me but me, and that was just fine.

"They have numbers, we all know they wouldn't storm in here without it. They also have an advantage in arms, position, and surprise. Now they have my family. You will take this fucking chip out, and you will do it now. You do not, and you can look at each face up here and tell them because you were too stubborn, they will all likely die.

"They may not die today but if those idiots get their hands on me they will turn me on full bloodlust and force me on you at some point. That was always their plan, set off my rage and then turn me in their enemy's direction." Marcus looked at me, a blank kind of expression I had never seen on him.

"You have seen what I can do, there is a reason people are scared of me. I need to end this now. If you have ever felt even a crumb of love for me, you will take this out now," I hissed at him, I was breathing deep. To anyone else it looked like I was panicking but I wasn't. My breathing techniques were the only thing keeping me from losing it.

Dominic crawled over to me and pulled a knife from an ankle sheath on his left leg. He handed the knife to me, staring at Marcus the whole time daring him to do something about it. I grabbed it, covering my hand with his over the hilt and mouthing I love you to him. It might not be the same love we had for each other before, but I loved him still.

"When I dig this chip out it would benefit your health if I didn't see your face," I told Marcus, he was looking to my eyes and he flinched back like I had struck him. I knew they were bright red, I could feel the rage pulsing beneath my skin.

He nodded at me ever so slightly, it was the closest thing to approval I was going to get. I brought the knife down on my forearm, my skin almost popped at the pressure of the blade as it sunk into my skin. They planted it almost next to the bone, it took quite a bit of digging to get it out. I could smell my scent in the blood, it was coating my nose blurring the lines of my control. I kept my breathing deep, focusing on nothing but the chip. I pulled it out with my fingers, and sat the tiny piece of enchanted metal on the floor next to me, staring at it like it might explode.

I clenched my fists, my hands were shaking so bad I thought they were going to burst. If I lost it now, everything would be for naught, I wasn't sure I could hold this. The only person I looked to was Dominic, who was pulling off his shirt and pants. Preparing for his beast. I focused on his eyes and he held my stare knowing I needed to get it together. I looked down at my arm and noticed it had healed already, magic how I have missed you.

"I'm going to stand now and talk to them. I don't know how long I can hold this shape without letting go. Get Luca to me if I go loose Dom, please listen to me." I could feel the tears in my eyes. "If I can't convince those idiots to let London and Cole go, get them out. Ignore everything else, just get them out. I don't care what they do to me, but they will not touch her, they will not touch Cole, they will not touch that baby." He nodded at me, I knew he didn't want to, but he would obey me now.

I felt my arms shaking too much for me to able to handle, and then Dominic was suddenly right in front of me, placing his hand on my neck, collaring me like a dominant wolf. He sent out his own alpha waves, I was guessing in the hopes of getting me to calm down. I took a few deep breaths in of his scent, willing my beast back as he did it. When I felt a wave of heaviness leave my body I exhaled and looked back to Dom.

"I love you too," Dominic whispered back to me and I rose.

"Ah there she is," Trenton said. He was standing next to Reynold, who had London and Cole on their knees in front of him guns pointed at their heads. They looked unharmed but my beast was starting to slip. I could feel my legs starting to sheath in fur, and thank the gods this platform was high. I would have to try not looking at them if I wanted to wait to shift. I had to surprise them or this was never going to work.

I found Juke and Luca a couple of feet back, both with guns to their heads as well. I had to end this now. I raised the knife so Reynold could see it and placed it right over my breastplate.

"Let them go, and I'll leave with you. Hurt them and I'll kill myself right here. You know I will do it too, there is nothing I wouldn't sacrifice for them. We both know you want me alive, so don't let me go to waste by doing something stupid like messing with my family because you're pissed I don't take you seriously." My voice was a bit deeper, almost gravelly. I was biting the side of my mouth in an attempt to keep my fangs from coming out. Deep breaths, in and out.

Reynold spoke up, "Well you aren't really in a position to make threats but it seems reasonable enough. Usually they go for the old, hand them over and I'll let you live bit but I like your little act of heroism, even if it is martyred." I could care less, I just needed to get Cole and London out of their reach.

"Take these two out the back," Reynold said to one of his lackeys. He looked like the last time he showered was last century.

_'Cole when you are safe out back teleport her to the campsite you found me at. Do not go home, it is not safe. There are supplies there as well as my cell. Tell everyone to go there too. Tell London I love her.'_

"They will not be harmed by your men at any point?" I asked him staring him down.

"They will not be harmed at all. We would like your cooperation not your coercion if we can help it Ryann." That came from Steph who was sitting in one of the chairs close by, looking like she wanted to get this over with. At least someone had some brains here, and for some reason I trusted her word.

I saw a beady eyed lackey lead Cole and London out. I scanned the room, they must have at least twenty rogues here, holding people at knife or gun point. They had the whole room locked down, this was no small time pissed off mob. No they were well organized. This was much bigger than I had imagined.

I realized it then, we couldn't take them on now. There were too many of them, and not enough of us. If things erupted in this room it would be a disaster, many of these people would die. I had to either get them out of here and engage them, or go with them. I knew what the smarter option was, but I didn't know how I was going to hold back my magic. This was going to take a monumental act of will to do it. I took some more deep breaths, and pictured London's baby in my head. If I could hold onto that picture I had a chance of pulling this off.

_'Safe.'_ I heard Cole say in my head, he must have made it to the campsite because his voice sounded so far away. I felt my magic beat back for a minute, I took another breath. In. Out.

"They are gone, now let's get this over with. Come on little maggot, you know the drill." I looked to Juke and Luca trying to wink and smile at them. It might have been ruined because my eyes were filling with tears. They were both shaking their heads no at me.

"I have to, I love you too much," I told them on a whisper. I walked to where Steph was standing.

"No harm will come to the people here? If I go out those doors so do your troops. Every last one." She looked at me then, studying me.

"I do not know why you are protecting these imbeciles, but if that is what you wish they will leave when we do, you have my word." Steph said it with a small bow. Definitely part fae then. Reynold and Trenton looked pissed she had agreed to this. They were thugs though, anything not taken by force was a foreign concept to them.

Her staff started flowing out, with the guards on Juke and Luca still there. Insurance for my behavior no doubt. Steph would keep her word, I knew that but it didn't make me feel better about seeing them that way. I looked over my shoulder, and saw Dominic and Marcus up against the back wall of the hall.

I locked my stare with Dominic's, I closed my eyes and felt the tear slide down my face. I really didn't know what was going to happen me when they took me. I could go crazy and never come back, I could attack them and die, I could never see them again. I turned back towards Steph grabbed her hand and we walked through the doorway and plummeted into the abyss.

**Lair**

"Oh gods Cole, what the hell just happened?" she said, rubbing her hands back and forth. She was about to pace a hole in the tent if she didn't stop moving soon.

"Lon, you have to calm down. It's Ryann we are talking about here. She will figure something out, she always does," I said to her, and I believed it but it was a question of what she would sacrifice to figure that out. She was the best of us, no doubt. If anyone could come out of that, it was her.

I tilted my head when I heard feet hit gravel outside. I made my bird noise we had developed in the field, and heard it whistled back to me. I flung open the flaps of the tent and found Luca, Juke, and Dominic all stood outside the tent looking like death warmed over.

"Where is she? I can't see..." London trailed off as she was making her way around me to get a better look. She realized it was just them and stopped.

"She left with them," Juke said, pulling London to him to look in her eyes. "There were too many of them there to engage. It would have been a disaster for all of us. She knew it, but I know Ryann. She'll come back to us. She will find a way back to us." He gave her a hug when she started crying. I knew she felt like it was her fault Ryann had to give in and go with them.

I closed my eyes and tried to pull it together, there was so many ways this could go wrong for her. I knew it would happen like that once I saw how many people they brought with them, I didn't see any other way out of that mess.

"What the hell do we do now?" I asked, running a hand through my hair.

"We have to find her and get her out now. We can't wait, you know we can't," Dominic said looking extremely serious.

"What do you mean Dominic?" London asked, she had walked over and was now plastered to my side.

"You didn't notice? She must have been hiding it better than I thought. Man she's tough." He was smiling like a proud parent.

"What the hell are you talking about Dom?" Luca asked, looking agitated.

"She cut her chip out before she popped up from the platform. She was holding in both her halves the entire time. She's at full magic now." Gods, how in the hell did she do that?

"What?" Luca and Juke yelled back.

"She got Marcus to consent to it before she went out there. It was great, her arm healed in about ten seconds too. I don't know how she was maintaining her shape out there." It made sense to me now, gods.

"She was picturing London and the baby," I said out loud. I didn't mean to say it but it just came out. "Her shields were down which I thought was odd, she never lets me in her mind outside of talking to her. I thought she was just doing it to remind herself to stay calm but she must have been doing that to keep herself from changing." London tried to make a small smile through her tears. It was such a sad smile, I kissed her head under my arm.

"That means she can get out of there, but it also means we need to be there in case she goes crazy. I think we are the only ones who will able to bring her out of it," Luca told us. I agreed completely.

"If they can get her to bloodlust it might be too late, even for us. We need to get to her, yesterday," Juke said, he was right we needed to move on this fast.

"We all sleep here tonight. In the morning we go with Luca to Ari's and we try to go over every scrap of information we can to find where they took her. I know Ari keeps everything on paper and he uses recordings. We are going to pour over everything and find her," I told everyone.

"I'll bring Ari here," Luke said. "His house is not secure, they found it once already I'm not taking chances with any of them. This location is better, and it is as secure as it gets. I'll grab some more supplies too and we can get down to it." I nodded at him and he disappeared.

"Dom, are you okay?" London asked him. He had to be just about at his limit.

"No, I am about as far from okay as I can possibly be. How could Kyle do that to her? She though she got her own baby killed. Out of everything I knew that was the part that really destroyed her, it was what left us unable to figure out how to move on. Marcus brought it up in front of everyone, that bastard was smiling the whole time.

"Fair warning guys, I am going to challenge him when this gets done. I am going kill him so slowly he is going to be begging for death," he said his mouth and fangs already making an appearance. He was a second from shifting, I needed to bring him back down.

"You could kill him, you're right Dom, but tell your beast to take it down a notch okay? Now is not the time for revenge. We need to focus on Ryann now." I was trying to touch him as much as possible to calm him down. After a minute or two he calmed down enough that I could step away from him.

"I'm going to shift and hunt," Dominic said tersely. I didn't argue with him, he needed to let it out for a while otherwise he was going to lose control.

"Be safe brother," I said back to him. He leapt towards the trees, shifting as he crossed the line into the woods.

"What are we going to do?" London asked me again. She looked as lost as I felt at the moment.

"We are going to do what we always do Lon," I said to her as I stoked her hair. "We are going to find her and kill anyone that gets in our way."

We were in a thick forest. It smelled like fresh rain, if I had to guess we were somewhere in South America. I spent some time in Rio and the climate reminded me of it. The area was warded heavily, both to keep intruders out and keep prisoners in. I tried to teleport the second my feet hit the dirt, but I had no luck. That and Steph was holding a death grip on my hand.

Teleporting was such a tricky way to travel. Places could be heavily warded to keep people from popping in and out, usually in situations like this they were people specific. Only certain persons could travel in and out, or there was a small patch of land that was free of the ward. I could go and search, but I had neither time nor the luxury of drawing attention to myself. The only way I was getting out was by running far enough away that I was out of ward range. That would require fighting my way out, and I wasn't sure I was strong enough to not lose myself in the process. This meant I needed to get as much information as possible, in a short amount of time, and get the hell out of dodge at the earliest opportunity.

"Ryann, if you want to come with me I can show you where you are staying. You can clean up and eat, I'll have some food sent to your tent. We are going to be meeting with you tomorrow morning to discuss your stay." Steph led me down a long patch of open grass, flanked on each side by rows and rows of expensive looking tents. They looked like they could be on the set of fantasy movie. They were a rich camel brown fabric, and each had at least two rooms as well as a bath. The panels it looked like could be rolled back to reveal meshed fabric. Every thirty feet or so you could see horses tied up, waiting for their riders. They were all unbelievably tall and beautiful looking, perhaps it had been too long since I had been around them. The fae had a special breed they used in battle, and these seemed to be just like those.

She reached the front of the encampment, and pointed towards the two tents that were surrounding my own.

"That one is mine, and the one on the other side is Reynold and Trenton's tent is a few more down. Escaping would be impossible and foolhardy. We are fortified, warded, and concealed by some of the best witches in the world. I don't think you need more incentive but I will remind you I know where Ari lives, and I know you care for him a great deal. Choose wisely. There are clothes in the dresser, and things to wash with in the basket at the top. Dinner will be brought in soon, and I will come to get you in the morning." She left me standing in the tent feeling like I might be in over my head, the front flaps whipping violently in the night wind.

I walked over to the dresser and looked in one of the drawers. They were all stacked with clothes in my size. Some were normal human looking clothes and some were a bit different. There were perfumed soaps on the tops of the dresser, they must have been very expensive if I could smell their fragrances from over here.

I decided I would take a shower, I needed to calm down and I could shift some in the shower and burn off some of the itchiness I was feeling. I called out to Steph's tent and asked her for a bucket so that I could hook it up to the shower. She told me one of the witches specialized in water, so they would automatically work, which was the first bit of good news I'd had in a while.

The shower was located off the side of the tent. The walls were made of some of material as the tent and went up to the middle of my head. It would cover me nicely. I turned the knob for the water to come on, it streamed out nice and hot from a wide overhead showerhead. It was heaven, I spent the next half an hour cleaning, scrubbing, and shifting.

I got my legs done, sheathing them and grounding my clawed feet into the wood planks at my feet. I shifted those back and then worked on my arms. They felt a little weak from disuse but otherwise they were nice and strong. I flexed my hands a bit and ran my claws over the same wood at my feet. They were going to have to replace them by the time I was done, it wasn't designed to be my personal scratching post.

I let my face go last as I bent down to make sure no one could see me. The light fur spread over my face, my canines came out, though they always stayed looking more vampire than werewolf no matter which shape I was in. I snapped them back in, not wanting to give myself away by playing too long. I finished up cleaning up and headed back to my tent.

I found Reynold splayed out on my bed when I stepped back in, he was laying on his side with his head propped up on his hand. It really was a magnificent bed, huge and covered in different furs and plush pillows. It had a mosquito net that splayed from a dramatic ring over the top. I was just thinking it was a bit overdramatic for a rogue camp when he interrupted my thoughts.

"I'm so glad you are making yourself at home Ryann. I simply can't wait for tomorrow. I know you feel differently about what we are doing here but since you have no other option you should consider really thinking about this opportunity. I believe you could really blossom out here with us. I would hate to have to manipulate you by threatening your friends again." He had a bit of a deranged smile on his face when he was talking to me, I wasn't about to let him enjoy this.

I walked over to the dresser to change out of my wet towel. I had a feeling he wanted to be here when I got back so he could unnerve me. I wasn't going to play his game, not after everything they put me through.

I dropped the towel and began to change. I heard his intake of breath, but to his credit he didn't say much to me. I was not going to give him the satisfaction of scaring me in my own tent.

"Like what you see?" I asked him seductively over my shoulder. He gave no response, save for a hard swallow. He wasn't expecting me to react like this, and I could see the struggle in his eyes as to what he should do.

I settled on putting on a nightgown, and I walked slowly over to him. He was sitting up straight at the end of the bed and staring at me with strange, hungry eyes. I got close to him and shifted just my hand, spreading out my claws at my side. He was still focused on my breasts, peeking seductively out from the deep cut in the nightgown. I leaned down a bit and moved like I was going to grab his crotch. I had his bulge in my clawed hand and then I took my free one to haul him up by his shirt so he was standing before me. I leaned into his ear.

"You don't scare me Reynold. Don't think you can ever come in here again when I'm not around. This is private, if you want to court my favor I suggest you cut the crap and be honest with me. I will make my own choices, and no one will intimidate me anymore. I want you to look down at your dick." He looked down and went stock still, breathing in a short clipped pant.

"Do you see my claw? All you can think about is losing your favorite appendage but you should instead be asking me now how I can shift my hand with a chip in. That would be the point where I would tell you I cut it out back in that meeting hall, it's not sitting on the floor, probably being swept up with the trash. I will attack anyone that attacks me, and I will not hesitate to kill them. Do not mess with me. We clear?" He looked up at me, scowling. I had a feeling he didn't like being on this end of power exchange.

He nodded lightly and left the room. I knew he would tell everyone what I had done, but really I had nothing left to lose. I only hoped like hell I knew what I was doing.

**Epilogue**

It was pitch black when they attacked, I didn't think they would be dumb enough to try something so soon. One moment I was sleeping, and the next I got a swift kick to the ribs. If it didn't hurt so damn bad I would think it was a dream.

I tried to gather myself, but I couldn't see a thing in the bloody tent at first. They grabbed me by hair and dragged me, jerking upwards to get me to my feet once I cleared the bed. It took me a few seconds to allow my senses to come back. I got down in a crouch, head whipping about like a paranoid animal, and gave my night vision a second to adjust. To hell with this, I thought to myself, I wasn't going to die in a fucking tent, being jumped like a street kid.

I took a deep breath and sampled the air. If I had to guess I would say there were three or four of them in here. With the breeze it was harder to pin it down. I knew I needed to shift, but I wanted to do it as controlled as possible. I dropped my head down when the waves of feeling it me. I had controlled the feelings when I shifted in the shower but this was much more intense, I felt threatened.

If I had to describe the sensation, it would never do that moment justice. I was close to the feeling you get when blood gets stopping to a limb, and when the pressure is gone the blood flows to that area again, causing that prickly warm feeling. It was just like except it hurt like hell. I let out a guttural growl as I felt my fur sheath my legs and arms all at once. In my hybrid form it was softer and shorter than my werewolf counterparts. It was a tawny red color, almost matching my skin tone and hair. I felt my fangs elongate, almost touching below the corners of my mouth. They hurt the worst, like a cramp from a long unused muscle being pushed to its limit. My nightgown was mostly intact, two long rips were running up the side to accommodate my larger legs and one shoulder had seen better days. Thanks the gods for spandex. All this took about three seconds, though time seemed to stop when it was happening.

I stood up and scanned the area. My vision was a bit blurry in this form, especially in the dark but heat signatures were an easy spot. The first one approached me, shoulders too broad to be female. The rest were standing back, obviously they were not planning on leaving here unless I was dead. They came in numbers to assure just that.

The first guy came at me, and I saw the slight gleam of the long tactical knife in his hand. _And here I was worried about being weaponless._ As he got within striking range, he lunged, attempting to get a strike in with his knife towards my ribs. I grabbed his knife hand, and pulled it just past the side of my body so fast he never got anywhere close to my side. I snapped his arm, breaking it clean and then grabbed the back of his neck. This pulled him in close enough for me to get my fangs into his neck. Hot blood was pumping into my mouth at a higher speed than I was hoping for. His panic at being so easily taken had upped his heart rate, like a terrified bunny. He wasn't going to last long and I needed to prepare for the next two. I snapped his neck when I felt the blood slow and he dropped to the floor.

The second, a female with considerable muscle mass, came at me next. They must really have believed in themselves, she didn't even stutter when she came at me. Most at this point either ran or acted skittish, maybe she did have balls. She had a small Japanese blade in her hands, it was too dark to distinguish, and she jumped in the air to clear the space between us. She was graceful in her leap, but it was all show. She held her sword high, hoping to get in an overhead hit, but she jumped too far in the air. I rolled on the floor and just before her feet hit the floor, I used my claws to shred both her Achilles. As I spun back around, I got her in a headlock from behind. I really wanted to have more fun, but there was one more I could play with if I wanted to. I really needed the blood, so I used one hand to slice her throat as I bit into the other side of her neck to get some gulps of blood in fast.

I heard the third one try to come at me from behind, but I swung around, the female still up with her back to my front. He had some type of longer sword, but I didn't get to see much of it before the majority of it got plugged right through the middle of the nice shield I had made for myself. I had to push her away when I felt the sword enter my own stomach. It must have been a pretty nice sword to almost skewer us both. I spun her to the side and down, face up on the floor allowing for the hilt of the sword to be pushing out of her. In the next second I had the sword in one hand, the first's knife in the other, and I faced my last opponent. I swung the weapons in my wrists to warm them up. It had been too long since I wielded one.

He was backing up towards the entrance to the tent, the smell of fear in the air. It was tugging on my primal predator, if he ran, I was going to have a hard time reigning it back in. I had no Luca here to help me, no Dominic to talk me down, I was going to have to save myself. I closed my eyes and allowed the fear in, instead of panicking and pushing it down. The fear of losing myself really was helping me, instead of fighting it I leaned into it, letting it in and allowing it a spot in my head. I took one breath in and leapt at the entrance to the tent.

As soon as my feet hit the earth I sighted my prey. It wasn't even a conscious decision it was just an automatic response from my body at the sight of him running. I was gaining on him fast, another couple of seconds and I was going to take him down. At the smallest part of my conscious, I knew it needed to be fast. If I got too riled up I might not ever come back.

In the next moment I had him pinned in the little clearing a few tents down. I held him down, and in the moonlight I got a good view of his face. I didn't recognize him at all.

"Who sent you?" I managed to snarl out. I wasn't sure if he could understand me. My fangs created quite a lisp sometimes and my voice ended up sounding deeper.

He continued to look up at me astonished at my face and body. He didn't know I wasn't chipped anymore, whoever sent him had no clue what they were up against. Or they didn't tell him what he was going to be facing.

I wasn't going to get anything out of him, I just needed to get out while the getting was good. I leaned down, intending to feed properly on him at least. The venom in my fangs can anesthetize a bite site, but I didn't even think about using it.

He _was_ going to run a sword through me after all. I felt him go limp a minute or two in, he must have passed out. I felt full, but I took a second to check his pulse. Recognizing he was dead, I got up and shook myself off. I took some cleansing breaths, I was holding it together nicely. I looked over myself, I was almost completely covered in blood. Juke would be in heaven if he saw me now looking a demon blood princess.

I heard clapping coming from behind me and I snapped back towards the sound, going into another crouch and growling. I had to blink several times to focus on who was clapping, but I couldn't focus enough to get a clear view.

My mind must have sensed they weren't a threat because I found myself walking towards the tent. I could see her teeth, see her smiling, but the light from the inside of the tent shadowed her features too much. Yes it had to be a woman, she was too lean and lithe to be male. I got up closer to her and scented the air, holding my bloody claw up to my forehead to block out the light. The smell and the beauty of her face almost brought me to my knees. It couldn't be, it was impossible.

"Hello Ryann," she said to my stunned face.

"Mother?"

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

L.M. Keck is a wife and mother, hailing from southwestern Ohio. She is a reader, writer, and a lover of good fiction.

You can find more information on the Dominance series, as well as her future projects at or her Facebook page under the same name.


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